Lynn Smith: The common good
In 1930, the headmaster of The Stowe School in England wrote that the primary purpose of his institution was to “turn out young people who were acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck.”
This quote captured my attention because it encompassed the urgent importance of encouraging American citizens to both, behave in accordance with a common set of social and cultural values (acceptable at a dance), and perform their civic duties for community and country (invaluable in a shipwreck). It is in this context that we can begin to pursue a broader understanding of “the common good.”
As citizens of the world’s oldest democracy, it has been our commonly-held ideals that have long defined us … not our race, not our religion, and not our ethnicity. Contrary to the drivel spewed on right-wing media, America has never been, nor will it ever be, defined by who we’ve excluded. Rather, we’ve been defined by our active (and often voluntary) service toward maintaining the common good ... in firehouses, schools, hospitals, churches, and in polling places. It’s been through our respect for the rule of law, reverence for our democratic institutions, toleration of our differences, offering of equal opportunities, protection of equal rights, participation in civic life, and our veneration of knowledge and truth, that we display our love of community and country.
This is the bottom line, so I hope you’ll read it twice: Americans demonstrate their investment in the common good by focusing on the duties of citizenship, rather than the rights of citizenship. We know that we cannot have a functioning society without shared commitments because absent an investment in the common good, “we the people” will cease to exist. We desperately need leaders with the ability to strengthen democratic institutions and increase public trust, so it’s no accident that common good citizens vote for the builders, and never the breakers. In fact, it is this voting preference, and not party affiliation, that best explains the election choices made by these invaluable Americans.
In a democracy, voting is among the most powerful actions you take on behalf of your community and your country. The leaders we elect are awarded abundant power to provide oversight of our massive government, so they must be intellectually and morally equipped to deliver both solidarity and stability. In recent years, because losers have refused to accept their obvious defeats, citizens have been left with the false belief that even the certified winners have no legitimate right to rule. But because it’s a natural part of America’s DNA to refuse enslavement by any particular individual driven by a self-centered cause, the majority has not fallen prey to the virulence of misinformation. We must continue to reject those candidates who are disinterested in service, and seek only to quench their insatiable thirst for power.
On a fateful day in January, as we witnessed our peaceful transfer of power being replaced by gallows constructed to hang a Constitutionally-adherent Vice President, we knew that the common good had hit a merciless shoal. And because one party has completely abdicated the Constitutional duties they swore to uphold, it’s only the tireless participation of an informed and determined citizenry that will prevent this shipwreck from becoming catastrophic.
Thankfully, in our social lives (at the dance), Americans are more than acceptable…they are as kind and generous as ever. We support the common good during health emergencies, during natural disasters, and through our donations and volunteerism. We shovel our neighbors walks, pick up their kids from school, and deliver spaghetti casseroles when they’re ill. We’ve opened our hearts to those that are not like us, and in doing so, have become a more inclusive and welcoming society than we were even a generation ago.
But, we need to strengthen our fight against bigotry, and we need to behave more respectfully when we disagree. We need to protect and honor the truth by using facts and logic to combat lies. And on a daily basis, we need to refocus on the acts of compassion that rarely make headlines, but constitute much of our daily lives together.
It’s not bad luck that we’re living through the greatest threat to American democracy since the Civil War. Rather, it’s a privilege to live during a time when our actions have immense consequences and we have a unique opportunity to display American common good … not only in our country, but throughout the world. The moral fiber of our society has been weakened by cowardly and amoral leaders, but it has not yet been destroyed.
2024 is your year to become invaluable.
— Community Columnist Lynn Smith is a retired wealth management executive who resides in Holland. Contact her at lynn.angleworks@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Lynn Smith: The common good
