These are the common desires of all Oregonians, transcending our individual differences. They are things that people, acting alone, could not provide for themselves. And they are important precisely because without them our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are jeopardized. First, government has a legitimate duty to protect people's lives and property through an integrated system of public safety that not only provides swift, certain, and appropriate penalties for those who break the law, but also recognizes the value of prevention. I'm talking about the people who turn to gangs for acceptance, who turn to drugs to make life a little less bleak, who turn to vandalism, to child abuse, to other forms of domestic violence, out of frustration and rage at a society that seems not to care.
Punishment is absolutely necessary once a crime has been committed.
But we will never reach our vision of a better future unless we also invest in prevention. I'm not saying that government has a duty to give everyone a job. What I'm saying is that in this age of information and technology and global competition, the opportunity for work depends on two kinds of investments that could not be made by individuals acting on their own. These are investments in education and in infrastructure. And economic activity and job creation provide the public revenue that, in turn, allows us to fund our educational system, to ensure the public safety, and to care for thevulnerable.