In your own words, what it the "common good"? And How?

Question

In your own words, what it the "common good"? And How?

Answer 1

If Huey lives in a big house because his father is a doctor who works extra hard on weekends to make his payments, and Louie and Dewey have no place to play basketball after school, (Dewey has dropped out of school,) and Louie is the son of an "undocumented worker", then for the "common good", Huey's house should be removed and a basketball court built so that the "under privileged" will have a place to play.  Where else would they be able to spend their afternoons.  Also it wouldn't be fair for Huey to live in a big house when Louie has no house at all.

Hillary Clinton said that she would take money away from those who have it and give it to those who need it.

Answer 2

Does what you're referring to pertain to the mindset of socialism? Or really, the general thought of the new left here in America.

I think the phrase "greater good" is in a lot of cases a reference to the "harm principle", brought to popularity by John Stuart Mill. Basically it refers to the thought process that laws should only be there to protect people from being harmed by other people.

"The object of this Essay is to assert one very simple principle, as entitled to govern absolutely the dealings of society with the individual in the way of compulsion and control, whether the means used be physical force in the form of legal penalties, or the moral coercion of public opinion. That principle is, that the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right... The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign."

Many times I've heard self-proclaimed socialists and leftists refer to the harm principle to make their case about redistribution of wealth. They maintain that the wealth of the country being held in the hands of a few indirectly hurts everyone else, therefor the law must make sure that that wealth is allocated more equally, for the sake of the "common good".

Of course, this is just how socialists think. I'm completely against this BS of theirs. America was not founded on principles of equality of income and wealth, it was created to ensure the pursuit of income and wealth, helped by the fact that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law.

It's a major deviation that socialists and the far-left share; the thought that the Constitution (the literal law of the land) is more of a "jumping off point".

Constitutionalists and libertarians (such as me) wholeheartedly disagree. The greater good is not my concern. If everyone would take responsibility for their actions, be responsible spenders, and just generally be responsible, there is no need for the "greater good" to be taken care of.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

That which benefits the public good, or  most people who live in an area. For example, a minimum age drinking law may not benefit those young people under 21 but it may benefit everyone else from the problems created by those

youths who could buy alchohol and get drunk then do BAD

things to themselves and other people. The law may appear to be stupid but it does help the "Common Good".

                                 Hope that helps.

                                    packers