Yet Delaney’s effort falls short of what the moment demands. In his statement, he failed to move beyond the core problems facing the Democrats. Most important, his remarks were all about what would be done to and for Americans, and particularly to and for the working class, and not about what working Americans can contribute to building a country they can be proud of and feel ownership of.

If you’re from the Acela corridor, you have to listen closely to hear a problem that bells out, as over a megaphone, in the lands beyond. But try. Lean in. Listen.

Delaney wrote: “Technological innovation, automation and globalization are the most powerful forces in the world today. These forces have been enormously positive; they will continue to make life better, enhance productivity, solve some of the world’s most difficult problems and open societies. Sadly, these forces will also eliminate certain jobs and require workers to learn new skills more quickly.”

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Some people — the professional elites who invent new technologies and deliver globalization — get to have all the fun. They get to do. Others get done to. There are the agents and the acted upon. The acted upon lose their jobs and become a problem to be managed, people who have to “learn new skills more quickly.”

The doers get the thrill of being the problem-solvers. They ask questions like these in Delaney’s statement, “What are the resources we have, how do we compete and create jobs, how can we ensure that everyone has a fair chance, and how do we protect ourselves?” As doers, they take it upon themselves to deliver reams of policy proposals. Delaney writes: “We need to respond to these large-scale opportunities and challenges by thinking about policy from a fresh perspective . . . . We need new infrastructure, which can be paid for using my bipartisan approach to infrastructure and international tax reform. . . . We need new ideas on the future of jobs and work, one where we build a stronger and more vibrant middle class.” Delaney will deliver, he says, “A future where responsible businesses work with our government to lead the world not only in growth and innovation but also in positive societal change.”

And what if you are not in business or government? What do you get to do? Speeches such as Delaney’s win support from people in the Acela corridor because they contain a multitude of job descriptions for those who live in the Acela corridor.

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But what does this statement have for everyone else? Only being done to. Only, I’m sad to say, being dominated. The middle class will be built, as Delaney says. It will not build itself.

Nowhere does this statement celebrate what Americans outside the professional elite can contribute to, pardon the expression, making America great at last. Nowhere do we see Delaney finding answers by listening to the people — people who say that dealing with the future of work can’t just be about ramping up the pace of my learning. It must also involve my having meaningful control over the environment in which I work. It must involve freedom from non-compete clauses and housing options that make it possible for me to move to opportunity. It demands transportation systems that free me from a crippling dependence on a car that may or may not start this week.

Delaney hasn’t responded to the people — black, white, brown and all other colors — who are shouting, “I am tired of being dominated.” And here we come to the core. Although he invokes the value of free markets, his basic list of American values leaves freedom off, just as the Republicans routinely leave off equality. Delaney’s list, of core values, again, was diversity, equality and justice. Where, friend, is liberty?

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Democrats shouldn’t be so afraid of freedom. Freedom from domination is a core element of the achievement of equality. Freedom and equality are like hand and glove. Properly understood, freedom and equality are mutually supportive.

So, Mr. Delaney, congratulations on stepping into the ring. I admire your courage and commitment to this country. But step back, try again. You can do better. I’d recommend that you start by recovering a sense of why the Democratic Party, too, should care about freedom, alongside equality, justice and diversity. If we could get this country and those four values working as coach and four, then this old land would really fly; we’d really have something the world has never yet seen.