One to One with Bill Goodman:
Jonathan Miller
aired October 27 and 29, 2006
No value is more celebrated in the human experience than compassion for others, says Jonathan Miller, Kentucky’s state treasurer. All of the world’s great religions promote some version of the “Golden Rule” as among the most noble of human ideals. But instead of focusing on good public policy built on compassion, many politicians of both parties emphasize the “three P’s”—power, patronage, and pork projects.
Miller expounds upon this theme in his book about the role of faith and values in politics, The Compassionate Community: Ten Values To Unite America. He discusses the book and the ideas behind it with host Bill Goodman in an edition of One to One taped at Lexington’s Joseph-Beth Booksellers.
Miller, a devout Jew, is a native of Lexington and a graduate of Henry Clay High School and Harvard University and Law School. First elected in 1999, he is in his second term as Kentucky state treasurer.
In the book, Miller develops 10 “essential American values” that emanate from his core theme: opportunity, responsibility, work, family, freedom, faith, justice, peace, respect, and life. He associates each value with a biblical character and illustrates with stories from his political and family life, naming specific programs across the country that act on that value.
