A New Politics for the Common Good

Harvard professor, Michael Sandel, makes an excellent case for a moral and civic renewal in democratic politics and calls for a new politics for the common good. What would such a politics looks like? Among other things, it would invite us to view ourselves as citizens rather than consumers and would call on us to very seriously consider the moral and spiritual implications of our actions, not only the economic ones. You can listen to his lecture at the Reith Lectures 2009

Sandel asserts that, "We live in a time of financial crisis and economic hardship – everybody knows that – but we also live in a time of great hope for moral and civic renewal…Whatever reforms may emerge, one thing is clear: the better kind of politics we need is a politics oriented less to the pursuit of individual self-interest and more to the pursuit of the common good. That at least is the case I shall try to make in these lectures. A new politics of the common good isn’t only about finding more scrupulous politicians. It also requires a more demanding idea of what it means to be a citizen, and it requires a more robust public discourse – one that engages more directly with moral and even spiritual questions."

I could not agree more....