George W. Bush said it best in a speech in Albuquerque in October, 2000.

This election has many issues, but one great question; Can we bring America together, move beyond the petty arguments, and get results for the American people? This is the question the American people must answer . . .

Politics doesn't have to be the way it is today. We can change it. We can aim higher. We can do better. There are good people in both parties willing to rise above the confrontation and stalemate of the last eight years – People who are ready for a fresh, bipartisan approach. And there are lots of independents just looking for more civility and more common sense and more integrity in the conduct of government.

This is not too much to ask . . . and this is my pledge to the American people.

We are advocating a fresh, new approach to problem resolution that is line with what Governor Bush has recommended, but also reflects the thinking of responsible members of the Democrat Party at all levels of operation.

We call for new decision-making processes that can "cure" our National Schizophrenia, integrate our "Two Minds," and create new political forms and procedures for leading and managing our "fragmented" society in these times of greater diversity, complexity, and confusion.

Consider, then, two more Value Codes that can mesh, align, and synergize the first three, and move them from raw competition for primacy, or even from the "blame and be blamed" and "live and let live" viewpoints. Welcome to a "thrive and help thrive" motive.

The Integration of the Natural Stages in Cultural Emergence . . . Transcend but Include YELLOW Value Code
The Holism of Purpose For the Greater Good . . . Design 21st Century America TURQUOISE Value Code

To implement the complex adaptive intelligences contained in these two Value Codes, the following action steps should be taken.

First, we must develop a New Perspective, one that deals with the deeper Value Codes that lie at the core of our cultural patterns and transformations. Without this knowledge, we will continue to produce the bipolarized hysteria and media megaphones that fill our national conversations with bitterness and hatred. The needs of people must be met at different stages of human emergence. Both traditional Republican "trickle down" and Democrat Party "collective sharing" models have been weighed in the balance and found to be wanting. Neither Rush Limbaugh nor Hillary Clinton possess the complex and comprehensive developmental codes to address the huge gaps and asymmetrics that continue to plague this generation of Americans, and pose serious threats to our many different futures. Yet both orientations will be essential but must be aligned in such a way as to contribute to the total meshworks.

These new political models have both the power and precision to focus resources like laser- beams on the steps and stages in personal and community emergence. Further, they mesh a number of bottom-lines . . . such as profit, people, and planet . . . in dealing with such complex issues as the environment, globalization, and national security. These models have been field-tested in some of the most difficult places and highly emotionalized issues in this country and abroad. And, they possess the intelligences to integrate and focus all of the resources at both national and local levels . . . home, church, school, law enforcement, business, government, the professions, sports etc . . . to get them on the same page.

Second, we must foster New Attitudes that possess the temperament and intent to work first and foremost in behalf of the "The Third Win:" – the health and well-being of the American way of life. This does not mean that a place does not exist for normal political debate, win:lose elections, or even deeply felt and often heated controversy. It does, however, stress the critical importance of us all learning how to transcend the high octane partisanship that often appears to have a life and agenda of its own.

Third, we call for the design and proliferation of New Procedures – new forms of dialogue, decision-making, problem resolution, and policy formulation that have the same level within their intelligence "codes" that mirror the complexity within these New Times. We have "new wine" but continue to attempt to contain these awesome problems with "old wine skins." We are in this present situation because of the collective failure of these traditional forms of resolving complex problems. Doing more of the same will only make things worse.

To pursue these New Solutions, we propose the creation and funding of a new National Dialogue Project & Center . . . a national initiative designed to develop, implement, and make available this new technology to a wider audience, both national and local. This transpartisan process will be unique in that it will utilize a combination of approaches to conflict resolution that have never before been brought under a single umbrella.

Don Edward Beck
Director
The Spiral Dynamics Group
Box 797
Denton, Texas 76202

The views expressed above represent the writer and not necessarily those of The Disinformation Company Ltd.