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What is Positive Public Policy?
When public policy is based on the belief in a sharp division between good and evil, it results in dual morality and produces win-lose outcomes from which, ultimately, no one benefits. Rather than continue with public policies that ensure failure, positive public policy is based on monomorality and unifying principles that seek to benefit everyone involved.
Positive public policy helps us move from dual morality to monomorality in the following ways:
- Positive public policy is measured by one standard of morality, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
- It is a win/win model.
- When compelling interests are in conflict, resolution is reached through reasonable compromise that weighs each compelling interest against other important considerations.
- The wisdom gained through the experience of others, even ones so-called enemies, is valued.
- Positive public policy supports unity, embraces transparency and is marked by generosity, giving more than it takes, knowing that giving and receiving balance out. It is forgiving; the past is laid aside in the interest of the present and future.
When surface appearances are removed, public policy has as its base one of two sources: love or fear. In the world of fear, we are conditioned to see ourselves as moral, while seeing others who are different from us as immoral. We are then left harming the "other," thinking we are ridding the world of evil by destroying those we call immoral.
In our split mind, we fail to see we are doing the same harmful acts that our enemies are doing, and that this does not make the world a safer place. We are, in fact, applying one standard of morality to our harmful acts, and a different standard of morality to the acts of our "enemies." As for our "enemies," ie, those who think differently from us, they are fighting against us because in their world view, we are the ones who are immoral and evil.
To collectively shift this habit of blindly harming others in the name of a misguided righteousness, we need to move from dual morality to monomorality. Positive public policy does this by being nonviolent, seeking unity through the reconciliation, restoration and preservation of community. It uses resources efficiently. It is holonomous (in accord with the law of wholeness), harmonious and powerful.
Recent developments toward restorative and transformative justice are two examples of domestic positive public policy. Extending unconditional aid to war-torn nations, or nations hit by natural disasters, are examples of international positive public policy.
 Examples of Positive Public Policy
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The Alternative—Fear-Based Public Policy?
Fear-based public policy promotes disharmony, imbalance and disunity. It is wasteful of resources, fragmented and doomed to fail. The weakness of others is readily exploited. Violence and attack are often tools of first resort. For an example of this, pick any news story on CNN.
Fear-based public policy is a win/lose model. It is marked by dual morality—the belief that there can be two standards of morality operating at the same time, one applied to me and one applied to you, e.g., the admonition, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." In this belief, my violence is deemed moral, yours is not. The belief is, "I am not even responsible for my violence—you made me do it." Physical might and emotional manipulation are used to impose control. Fear-based public policy reflects a belief in scarcity and is often greedy, because it takes more than it gives. It ignores the destructive fallout it causes to satisfy immediate needs. It is secretive and suspicious. Rhetoric is used to obscure means and confuse results. Fear-based public policy compromises only when forced to. Collaboration has not been embraced as a possibility. Opponents are labeled "evil," deserving to be attacked.
Examples of Fear-Based Public Policy
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