HeyBub wrote:
rangerssuck wrote:
Well I think you've hit the nail on the head. The problem here is that
those on the right really don't believe that there is such a thing as
"common good." They believe that the good of individuals is the only
goal. As long as I am doing well, it doesn't really matter how you are
doing - that's your problem.

Right. Adam Smith settled this hash in the 18th Century with the publication
of "The Wealth of Nations." In that work, he posited the "Invisible Hand"
(viz.) concept which, briefly, says that when all act in their own best
interests, the community, as a whole, prospers.

Conversely, history has demonstrated that when all are compelled to work for
the "common good" the community suffers.


Or to paraphrase Greenspan (The Age of Turbulence), "when all act in
their own best interests with honesty and transparency..." History has
also demonstrated that honesty is not the normal situation.