To restore hope, we need to agree across the political spectrum on this principle of political pragmatism: minimum necessary social intervention by government into our mixed economy and civil society. Next, we should look at the pros and cons of current social policies and compare them to the pros and cons of a range of policy alternatives. Such a common-sense, bipartisan form of policy analysis, informed by social-science research, can enable our democratic institutions to determine the best mix of the public, nonprofit and market sectors to fund and to deliver services and benefits addressing human needs in education, health, housing, employment, human services, etc., and to do so in a way which advances economic development.