Chapter 4d
Building an Awareness of the Social and Cultural Concept of the Common Good
We have 'faith' that no other outcome is possible


We believe that the single most important objective that lies before us, in the course of this task that we undertake, to recapture democratic control of the nation into the hands of its citizenry, is to develop an awareness of the social and cultural concept of the Common Good in the consciousness of the nation. This cultural concept exists naturally in human sensibility, but it has been largely eradicated by the dominant culture of greed that serves the designs and powers of special interests.

But we believe that there is no need for us, as conveners, to advocate that this should be the primary objective of the group we hope to build. We believe that the growth and development of this overarching social concept of the Common Good is the only natural outcome of the workings of True Democracy, (if it can be achieved). We believe that in a truly democratic organization, (or society), an expanding awareness of the Common Good will naturally exert itself to take precedence over the selfish and self-serving desires of individuals. We believe that in a truly democratic organization (or society), no other outcome is possible.

The social concept of the Common Good is a complex and far reaching idea that is rooted in a dialectic balance between opposing forces. The interests and desires of ‘the individual’ are not always in keeping with the general interests of ‘the group’ as a whole. Individual interests and group interests must achieve a dynamic balance. If either becomes unbalanced and overbearing, if group interests unduly stifle the desires, dreams, and spirit of ‘the individual’, or if the selfish interests of the individual unduly damage the well-being of the group, the well-being of all, group and individual alike, will suffer. The Common Good is forged from an awareness of enlightened self-interest, according to which the individual comes to understand that her or his own well-being is inter-dependent with the well-being of the group she or he lives among, and the group collectively understands that it is intrinsically strongest when it nurtures the dreams, spirit, and maximum potential of the individuals that comprise it.

The political rights of ‘the individual’ must be held sacrosanct for True Democracy to exist at all, and the General Welfare of the society is served best when the capacity of every individual to achieve her or his full potential is supported by social policies.

Social policies that support the Common Good will support strong families living dignified lives. Strong families that lovingly nurture, encourage, and teach their children to be productive members of society provide for the happiest, most self-actualized individuals, and the strongest and most vigorous society. These two goals, the full development of the potential of every individual, and the strongest, most prosperous society, are so closely and intricately intertwined that they are, in effect, one and the same.

Poverty crushes human dignity, destroys families, and often deprives people of the nurturing love and encouragement that is their birthright. Poverty produces people who are prone to lash out in anger and violence against the system and society that robbed them of their human potential. Poverty engenders a crescendo of social ills that reach into every corner of the society, even among the most advantaged. Poverty in the midst of plenty, poverty in a prosperous society in which some achieve unimaginable wealth, is a septic festering moral wound in the social fabric that will never heal, and will eventually poison the entire society with corrupt immorality.

We believe that the human resources of a nation are by FAR its most valuable natural resources, and that the Common Good is best served when these resources are developed to their fullest potential. Strong families, living dignified lives, nurture the growth and development of self-actualized individuals who are motivated to work productively to achieve a prosperous status in a society that they value and support because that society has valued and supported them. It is strong citizens who achieve their fullest individual potential that provide the bedrock of a strong and healthy society.

We believe that the Common Good of a society is defined by social policies that facilitate the maximum fulfillment of the potential and happiness of every individual citizen. But allowing individuals the ‘freedom’ to give free reign to raw human Desire, to allow it to rampage into greed and selfish excess, does NOT serve that end.

We believe that the fulfillment of human potential is to be found in moral enlightenment, and that moral enlightenment demands that the individual bear the social responsibility to restrain her or his desires to the extent that allows equal consideration and respect for the desires of others. We believe that in a morally enlightened society every individual should have the fullest opportunity to pursue her or his dreams, and to earn the greatest value and wealth possible in exchange for her or his fully developed talents, but that none should be allowed to earn such a degree of obscene wealth that others are deprived of basic dignity in their lives.

We, as conveners, may very well believe all these things, but above all we believe that it is not our right to impose our beliefs on the organization we hope to help build before it even exists. We trust in the very process of True Democracy itself, if it can be created and maintained, to actualize our beliefs.

We believe, as stated above, that a True Democracy will inherently, and inevitably, (if assiduously maintained), favor the development of a shared awareness of the Common Good. We believe that a True Democracy will inevitably and naturally function to promote the General Welfare of all citizens as a collective group, as well as the greatest fulfillment and happiness of every individual within that group.

Our task, as conveners of the True Democracy Project, must be to build an organization that is a True Democracy, and trust that if we are successful, if we build it well, if we build it upon a solid foundation, the organization cannot, by its very intrinsic democratic nature, be anything but a force for the progress of Justice, Equality, and democratic Freedom in the larger society.


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