As tariffs and global trade wars heat up, with large tax breaks and deep spending cuts becoming closer to reality, we reach a fork in the road regarding the role of the federal government.

Spending cuts for Social Security and Medicaid are now looming. There is an endless list of unprecedented deep cuts on many fronts, including food banks, special education, school lunches and fair housing programs, to name a few.

Combined with the haphazard and ineffective approach to slash-and-burn cuts, I know from my long career as a nonprofit CEO in many fields, that cuts will result in a tsunami of unmet needs and far-reaching consequences. Our elected representatives from all political parties stand at the fork.

Taxpaying voters are crammed in there too, whether they are passionately involved, apathetic or avoiding what is too painful to watch.

Democracy provides the means to have a say in how we are governed. However, we have competing needs and we cannot agree about our priorities. Fighting over pieces of the pie makes our differences highly charged, and there is little room for compromise or even respectful dialogue.

If we make it a “war game,” there is no reaching across the aisle. By the same token, if we never understand the true underlying needs of the opposing view, battles may be won and lost, but the war never ends. And the problems have only piecemeal solutions that do not address the causes.

We are now dramatically faced with the ongoing dichotomy between personal liberty and the common good. We all have our own version of what that looks like, and the battle lines are drawn once again.

The Declaration of Independence lays out those famous words that are the values and vision of this country: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The Constitution clearly defines the purpose of the U.S. government: form a more perfect union; establish justice; insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; promote the general welfare; and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. It inherently references that dual purpose of our government to preserve personal liberty and also provide the common good.

If we all, in good faith, pledged to lay down our modern version of swords in order to get out of these endless, useless fights, we might discover that our competing needs were not impossible to solve.

Instead of fighting, we could focus on mutual solutions and build enough confidence in them to find the public support to invest in them now to avoid higher costs later.

That is not our current reality. There are forces which, under the guise of false promises to make our country greater, take actions that are the antithesis of our country’s stated values and laws.

We are also facing numerous threats to the promises contained in our Bill of Rights. Many of the grievances against King George III that are listed in the Declaration of Independence are eerily akin to what we face today from those in power.

Among them are: “For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;” “imposing taxes on us without our consent;” depriving us the benefit of trial by jury;” and “transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences.”

For now, the dynamics are war-like.

We do not have to like different points of view, but we can endeavor to understand them as a first step. We can make better what is in our authority to make better.

We each have the power to live true to those values. We can join together with others to oppose actions that are counter to it.

I dream of the day when it is a given that everyone matters and peaceful ways can settle differences.

And I am grateful for well-intentioned people all over the world who want all people to be free.

Diana Conti, of Mill Valley, is CEO of the nonprofit Partners and Advocates for Remarkable Children and Adults, serving people with developmental disabilities. She is a member of the College of Marin Board of Trustees.