President Clinton acknowledged this fact when he said that since the era of big government is over, the era of the big citizen must begin. Giving more to the Combined Fund Drive is a way for all of us to be big citizens, to help welfare reform succeed, and to create the kind of compassionate society we want to live in. It's fashionable these days to talk about the magic of the marketplace. And it's true that the entrepreneurial energy of America is one of the great wonders of the world. But the marketplace can also be callous and unfeeling.
Market forces cause corporate employees to be downsized.
Market forces have devastated our timber communities, excluded our rural areas from the economic winners' circle, and caused a growing gap between the rich and the poor. To protect our families and communities from irreparable harm, market forces just have to be balanced by moral forces. Efficiency must be balanced by compassion. The best way to do that is to build the human infrastructure of mutual aid, educational opportunity, and civic investment that helps people and communities be resilient and resourceful. And the Combined Fund Drive is an immense part of the counterweight that keeps these moral objectives in balance with market forces.