The Common Good: Beyond Partisan Politics

We the people of the United States, in order to 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, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

That is the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States.  It recognizes that all of us do have a "general welfare."  There are needs and interests that we all share in common, a common good, and it is the legitimate role of government to promote that common good.

This is my list of what people of all political stripes act like we value, even when we don't do it successfully.  These are survival goals that can bridge ideological divisions. 

1. The health, welfare, and education of children is important to all of us, both emotionally and practically.
   
   
2. Clean air, clean water, clean ground, safe and nutritious and sufficient food, are critical to the survival of all of us.
   
   
3. Life is highly adaptable, but thrives best within certain parameters of climate and resources. Maintaining and even expanding those parameters is therefore important to all of us.
   
   
4. Good public health is essential for the good personal health of all of us. This includes the health of plants and animals; most majorly damaging human plagues have originated in our livestock.
   
   
5. All living things are intricately interdependent in a complex biosphere human science is only beginning to understand. It is critical to our mutual survival to maintain the health of that biosphere, which includes its genetic diversity.
   
   
6. Trade, both in the free exchange of goods and services and the free exchange of ideas, has been a foundation of human prosperity and advancement. It is in the interests of all of us to protect an atmosphere for free and fair trade. That requires an atmosphere of equal rights enforced by law; a universal standard of justice. It requires protection and support of the weaker members of society so that all are equal in bargaining power in the marketplace and in the enforcement of contracts. The maintenance of equal trade, equal rights, and equal justice is therefore a common good, a common survival goal.
   
   
7. Accurate knowledge is a critical survival resource. Increasing our mutual knowledge, and policing error, is another common good.  Public critical inquiry and open debate is the most effective means yet found for that. Increasing the knowledge and the critical and creative thinking skills of another is an increase of our own good.  Education is a common good.
   
   
8. The most important factor to individual human survival, since we became social animals, is other human beings. The creation and maintenance of social bonds is important to all of us, whether we like thinking of it as something we need, or not. People do need people. We will all be better off by making sure that others have strong social bonds, as well as ourselves.
   
   
9. We are each unique, with unique gifts. Other people can see things, think of things, say things, make things that I do not, that I could not. It benefits me to appreciate and encourage the uniqueness of others. The increase of human creativity and individual expression is a common good.
   
   
10. An ethical culture, in which all people are treated as we ourselves would like to be treated, is important to all of us. Promoting an ethic of honesty, fairness, kindness, and compassion protects us personally from fraud, exploitation, abuse and neglect.  Promoting the human rights of all is the best way to assure our own.

These seem a good starting point for working together on practical policies that can be agreed on by a broad group.  They are also things we can each act on in our own small ways every day.