Solutions Built For the Future

Through our commitment to innovative and effective problem-solving, the Forward Party is ready to take on the difficult social and economic challenges of today… and those of tomorrow.

When talking about the need for solutions, it’s essential to realize that the problems we face, as a state and as a nation, aren’t simple. They are, in fact, quite the opposite.

In recent years, we’ve seen the deep complexity of modern supply chains and trade routes, and just how volatile they can be during a disruption. We’ve seen the rise of new AI technology in more and more fields, threatening to automate out thousands upon thousands of jobs and cause an industrial shift that our economy simply isn’t prepared for. And we’ve seen new generations, faced with pandemic-interrupted learning and the mental health toll of growing up in the social media age, try to prepare for life in an-ever changing and often unpredictable world.

These are deep issues that don’t lend themselves to easy fixes, and we get that. At Forward, we understand that the way to solve complex problems is by bringing more ideas to the table, by building up a strong and open discourse, and by creating a platform for passionate problem solvers to think and work together.

When we talk about the need for grace and civility, or for openness to different ideas, we’re not playing nice for the sake of playing nice. We believe firmly that bringing more perspectives, and more innovation, to the table, is going to give us the best results when it comes to effective policy. That is the mindset that we have to bring in order to face the problems of today, and those of tomorrow.

What We Bring to the Table: the Innovator’s Toolbox

To empower Forward leaders to take on the difficult issues that lie ahead for their communities and constituents, our party is focused on uplifting dynamic policymaking tools from our community. These serve as both an open-ended guide to future leaders, and as an illustration to our supporters, and to all those those curious about our party, just what Forward thinking means, and what our brand of innovation looks like. Our Innovator’s Toolbox features some of the big ideas that our nation needs, and the list below is one that we look forward to seeing grow as more and more passionate problem solvers join our network:

Support Structural Reform to Improve Representation

Too many these days are left without a voice in our current political system. Let’s raise up efforts for voting reform, open primaries, and more, to empower more people to make their voices heard.

Launch Bridge-Building Initiatives to Strengthen Communities

Our modern age is constantly dividing us. Let’s invest in community-driven programs, from stages for civic discourse to resources for rehabilitation and mental health support, that help bring us together.

Reimagine Education to Empower Teachers, Parents, and Learners

All too often, our education system loses sight of the real needs of its students. Let’s reduce red tape and give communities more room to innovate, so that we can better inspire our children to become the curious, critical thinkers that we need them to be.

Invest in Service Programming to Prepare for the Future

Service programs offer a slew of opportunities to give young people a sense of fulfillment and direction while addressing critical community needs. Let’s make them a point of emphasis as we prepare for a post-automation world.

Utilize Aid and Training Programs to Ease Difficult Transitions

Economic transition and turmoil mean tough times ahead for many. Let’s draw from tools like basic income, career retraining initiatives, and much more, to make the most of this difficult moment.

As we strive to make people feel heard and empowered, one of the most critical areas of focus needs to be ensuring representation at the polls. Unfortunately, our current system leaves all too many voters out in the cold when it comes to electing their leaders, and that is a problem that calls for some major systemic change.

Structural reform can mean implementing alternative voting methods that create more options, like Ranked Choice or Approval Voting. It can mean establishing term limits or putting controls on gerrymandering. It can mean establishing limits on the role of money in politics. And it can mean something we’ve never even thought of (yet).

Different reforms are going to make sense in different communities - both because of local voters’ values and priorities, and because of political viability. And in the meantime, yes, there is plenty that Forward and our candidates can do even without these reforms in place. But if we want to foster a politics where innovative problem solving can thrive, then innovations to promote healthy competition and real voter choice are a great place to start.

In an age where the technology meant to bring us together seems so often to leave us feeling isolated, the need for fostering real connections in our communities cannot be overstated. The world of today can be scary, saddening, and lonely, and it is incumbent upon our Forward leaders to work to bring us together, especially when the major parties have found it so much easier and more profitable to tear us apart.

Building bridges isn’t just about fostering dialogue between left and right. It’s about providing support systems for those struggling with addiction, so that they don’t fall into deaths of despair. It’s about making quality time for police to spend with the communities they serve, to reduce stress and better communication. It’s about reaching out to youth struggling with mental health, to show them positive and productive paths forward.

The challenges are going to be different everywhere, and so are the bridge-building opportunities. And that’s exactly why Forward’s innovative spirit, combined with our grassroots-up approach, is so essential in fostering the thriving communities that we need.

In Florida and around the nation, many parents are understandably concerned about the quality of their childrens’ education. But are the test scores really capturing the roots of our problems? Has our educational system started to lose sight of its greater purpose? And in an age when we have such a critical lack of learner engagement, are our top-down policies holding back those who can best inspire our youth?

This isn’t just about empowering teachers. It’s also about empowering parents and local administrators. It’s about empowering communities to innovate at the grassroots level, so that they can bring their ideas and insights to forge better and more effective classroom experiences. That may take the form of supporting dynamic new pilot programs, shifting focus from standardized tests, cutting the red tape around curriculum reform, or all of the above.

Because at the end of the day, we don’t just want to raise test takers. We want to raise curious critical thinkers, learners passionate about learning, ready to take on a future full of dramatic change and unknown challenges. And if we want to raise our children to think different, shouldn’t we start by thinking different about how we educate them?

Supporting service efforts, particularly for college-age youth, is much more than just a nice-looking gesture. It’s an absolutely critical area of innovation for facing many of our social and industrial challenges, because it addresses three essential areas of need:

First, investment in service programming creates a potentially huge manpower resource for handling a slew of issues that plague our nation. Whether we’re building up Americorps-style volunteer programs, groups focused on teaching or mentoring, or even highway- and city- cleaning efforts, these are vital support systems for children who need guidance, and for any individual or community that needs hope and help.

Second, more available and viable service programs means more life-changing experiences for those who serve. They build character, they affirm, and they connect our young men and women to those around them in a way that our always-on-their-phone society so rarely does. To a great many, these experiences are going to be far more beneficial, and far more relevant to preparing for life in the future, than most any traditional four-year degree.

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, large-scale investment in service helps prepare our economy and society for an age where there is less and less manufacturing work to go around. Whatever machines we can make, people are going to need people, and building up ways for them to connect, and to find purpose and direction through those connections, is a huge part of how we can move forward without fear into the future.

However hard we may try to stop it, the fact is that things are changing. New technologies are creating new disruptions, old industries are being shaken dramatically, and paths towards economic mobility and success are changing rapidly. We are in a time of transition, and for many that transition comes with turmoil.

This is where ideas like basic income come in. Without creating the adverse incentives of a traditional welfare or aid program, basic income can make it easier for workers to change fields, and stimulate economic activity and mobility when times are tough. Of course, it’s not always perfect - at too large a scale, it can become costly, and may have inflationary effects - which people are right to be wary of, while at too small a scale, it can be low-impact, not offering the bang for the buck that a more focused aid program might. But as a tool to add to the Forwardists’ toolbox, basic income expands the realm of possible solutions that we can forge to help our nation.

It’s not the only tool we have, either. Traditional, targeted social assistance programs can be critically useful in different cases. So too are training initiatives, that help those in struggling industries pivot towards more viable paths. And so too can be strategic tax cuts and incentives, that ease burdens on industries in times of need. As long as our leaders bring open minds, a passion for problem-solving through dialogue and data, and a genuine love for those they serve, then there is no challenge too great to handle.