Common Good Thinking

The Common Good

• is inspired by the gospel and holds the human person at its heart, challenging the forces that dehumanise
• is built by people working together with others of different opinions and backgrounds, and may require hard negotiation across estranged interests
• is a settled pluralism of different identities and interests - so we can think of "a common good" to be built between estranged interests
• is realised through human civil society institutions, that link the individual to society as a whole and resist the dominance of big capital and the administrative state
• is generated between people as they participate freely - it involves mutuality and reciprocity between human beings
• involves mutual obligation across different backgrounds and opinions, resisting  the divisiveness of identity politics

The Common Good tells a story that goes beyond ‘you’ - and yet everyone is affirmed, allowing every individual to play their part freely and fulfil their purpose. We are each called into God's great creative plan to overcome the dominance of the self - to value our fellow human beings and build a common life.

For a just and peaceful society in which everyone flourishes, people with different opinions and backgrounds need to meet each other, to deliberate and negotiate. We don’t have to agree on everything - or even be friends - but we do need allies, to recognise our common humanity and resist forces that drive us apart. Conversation is the starting point for building the Common Good.

The Common Good therefore acts as an antidote to individualism and resists the divisiveness of identity politics.

It encourages social relationships and mutual obligations across our different backgrounds and opinions, requiring us to listen and encounter each other even when we dislike each other or disagree.

Our goal is to bridge the growing divides and build a shared life in which everyone is valued. We think the Common Good approach is the way to make that happen.

• The Common Good is not utopian - it isn't about perfection, but messier and more beautifully human than any utopian ideal could be. It cannot, by definition, be imposed. Is generated as people participate freely.

• it is not politically partisan - it requires a sense of mutual obligation and a non tribal approach. It challenges injustice, systems and ideologies which dehumanise, on both the left and the right - in this sense the Common Good properly understood is non partisan. It is therefore a counterbalance to collectivism and individualism

• it is not 'woke' - unlike identity politics the Common Good approach does not categorise people by group identity. Inspired by the gospel, it holds the human person at its heart so people are valued both for their own uniqueness and in relationship with others. Rather than 'de-platforming', the Common Good approach requires people to 'stay in the room' and negotiate. 

• it is not imposed from above - it cannot, by definition, be imposed - not by a state, a group, church or any agency. It is by definition bottom up, generated by people freely contributing, each according to their unique individual vocational responsibility. 

The Common Good is more than a set of beliefs and values; it is something that is generated by us as we act together.  Starting with our neighbours, our friends, our colleagues, our communities, our networks. At work, at home, in our neighbourhood, in our church. Ask yourself:

• What is happening in my community currently that builds the Common Good?

• How are we working in collaboration with others who have different views?

• What do I see as my vocational responsibility?

We can each do something, take responsibility and apply the principles of the Common Good according to our calling and ability:

• as neighbours, friends, investors, tradespeople, citizens, consumers, business-owners, vocational workers, leaders, volunteers, colleagues, savers, employees, employers, clergy, parishioners, students, professionals, legislators, CEOs, policymakers. Every decision matters and all are needed.

Starting with prayerful reflection, we can discern our own God-given role for the Common Good.

We each have a vocational responsibility to apply the principles of the Common Good in large or small ways, making incremental changes that work towards putting human dignity and human flourishing at the heart of civic, economic and cultural life. In this way we can create a more just economy and re-humanise systems that have lost their soul.

Our combined efforts are vital to strengthen social trust and fortify civil society against the dominance of big business and the administrative state, both of which have a tendency to dehumanise.

A key way to build the Common Good is through civil society institutions, those mediating bodies between the individual and the state which build human and social capital, empower individuals and communities, and link the individual to society as a whole, such as:

• churches and other religious institutions, unions, charities, independent and family businesses, community groups, voluntary associations, schools, sporting institutions, fraternal groups, all kinds of clubs and guilds and many more...

• families, which are vital as schools of human growth. Alongside local institutions, families must be supported

These are the crucial places – neither part of the state, nor part of international big business – where people and communities find their purpose and play their part, where people are empowered, where human and social capital are built.

Reciprocity ('returning a kindness' or 'exchange of gifts') underpinning membership of these bodies often leads to trust, which in turn strengthens solidarity.

Over decades across the West, many of these institutions have been weakened as the state has become more centralised, as the power of marketisation colonises aspects of our lives and as our culture has increasingly been captured by a focus on the self. We have seen an erosion of civil society having a damaging  impact on all human beings, especially those in disadvantaged areas.

We can all help to strengthen these vital bodies and find purpose in a shared story of hope. Every one of us is involved in some way with a local institution: we can each work to support them in small or large ways according to our vocational responsibility. Crucially, we can build relationships between them, creating 'bridging capital' which knits society together.