IT’S TIME TO REDISCOVER THE COMMON GOOD IN AMERICAN POLITICS
Working for the common good is what makes America great. And working for the common good matters because it is the best antidote to the perils of polarization we face as a country, now and in the near future.
Every election in our country, including the one that will occur this coming Tuesday, is in some way a referendum on the common good. That’s because the ultimate purpose of politics and government is to ensure that the benefits of society — peace, prosperity, mutual support — are shared as broadly as possible.
That’s why the common good should be at the forefront of people’s minds, and the primary criterion for judging candidates.
The common good can be difficult to grasp because our politics are clouded by toxic polarization and special pleading by special interests. But throughout American history, especially at the most contentious moments, the country has embraced mind-blowing ideas and reforms that sought the common good and made this country a great nation. Just a few examples:
When American colonists declared to a violent and capricious world that “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 them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
When an embryonic nation created a Bill of Rights that eventually protected the rights of all Americans.
When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery.
When public education became universal and Congress passed the Morrill Act to open land grant colleges everywhere to make higher education widely accessible, to women as well as men.
When Theodore Roosevelt created the National Parks to preserve natural wonders and later inspired protection of the natural environment for generations to come.
When private sector employees were allowed, in the National Labor
Relations Act of 1935, to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining and take collective action.
When Social Security was founded to help all Americans have some measure of economic security in the midst of the Depression, and for generations since.
When the G.I. Bill of Rights was created after WWII and, despite its unfairness to African-American and other minority veterans, helped to lift a generation into the middle class and set the nation on the path to post-war prosperity.
When the government created measures to protect the public health, including subsidizing research to fight
deadly diseases.
When the civil rights most Americans took for granted were extended to all Americans — a project that continues to this day.
These moments, ideas and actions share an underlying ethos: They promote the common good of the entire society, and the well-being of generations to come. They aren’t focused on one group at the expense of others, or on the present at the expense of the future.
These achievements also recognize that promoting the good of all, doesn’t devalue the individual, but rather lifts up individuals, since we all share in the common good of our society. They acknowledge the individualism so highly prized in American society, while also recognizing its limits.
History shows us that the United States succeed as a country, both at home and on the world stage, when it works for the common good. Working for the common good, therefore, is a form of enlightened self-interest that subsidizes investments
in others, such as in public education and Social Security, to maintain the dignity of our entire society. In other words, when we care for all our brothers and our
sisters, we also care for ourselves.
Reasonable people dedicated to the common good can disagree on programs and policies. That’s called democracy. But what Lincoln
called the government “of the people, by the people and for the people” can thrive only when people recognize that caring for the common welfare is required to care for any one individual. We can’t let tribalism or polarization blind us to this fundamental truth, or cause us to think that politics is about making sure some groups benefit while others suffer and fail.
This starts by recognizing that we must unite against the toxic selfishness that is the dark side of the American spirit of individualism. We can and must move away from our busy distractedness towards a greater awareness of those in need around us, and become compassionate advocates for those who aren’t able to help or represent themselves.
If we do this, we will see people differently; we will listen to them differently; we will think differently; and we will listen to the news differently. And in all those areas we will be better, and stronger, and more resilient. We will view others different from us as an advantage and a strength, instead of as a burden and a threat.
Doing all of this would put us in a better position to vote for those who support and will work for the common good. The common good, rather than any single issue on either the left or the right, should be in the forefront in our minds when we choose candidates and cast our votes. Only then can we hope to have representatives who work together for the common good, not always agreeing on the best ways to achieve it, but able to find reasonable compromises that benefit the people as a whole, rather than only factions of the people.
America has been at her greatest when its voters and leaders commit to the politics of the common good. Let’s make this election a great one by voting with the common good in mind, beginning a new era of prosperity, justice and peace — for all.