Whatever Happened to the Common Good?

Whatever Happened to the Common Good?

By Penny Owen, Winsted

Although I have a degree in anthropology and although Margaret Mead, one of the country's most famous anthropologists, was one of the reasons that I loved the discipline, I had to come to church in Winsted to hear this story about her: When asked what she thought was the first sign of civilization, Mead said that when archaeologists found a healed leg bone, they knew that humans had become civilized. This meant that someone had cared enough about someone else to help them. Mead said that more than any other factor, evidence of a concern for the common good was the sign of a civil society.

Over the past several decades, there have been many signs that our country has forgotten the concept of a common good. Since the ‘70s high school students no longer learn the philosophy of civil discourse and the idealism that led our founders to create a constitutional form of government; instead, students study the science of politics and learn that government serves the loudest, and often richest, voices.

Over the past year, many of us in Winsted have witnessed a lack of concern for the common good on the part of our local Board of Education. Although each board member has been quoted as expressing a concern for both the young people and the taxpayers of this community, their actions have belied this concern for the common good.

For example, in February, the board almost refused to let the school system apply for a HOT Schools grant that would not only bring $480,000 into the district for the next six years, but which has been an effective learning tool in schools throughout Connecticut. This grant would serve both the taxpayers in Winsted and our students.

On February 15, 2002, the board voted to continue its long-term support of the Alternate High School. The Alternate School must vacate the Gay Street property in August. But at their June 25 meeting, the Board of Education stopped the school from applying for a state grant that would have defrayed 70% of the cost of a new building. Now the school will occupy rented space at the corner of Elm and Main Streets. It is my understanding that, with the grant, the new building would have cost the town less than the rental costs that will be incurred, and certainly much less than the cost of sending these students out of district.

Civilization starts with a concern for the weakest members of a society, its children and its elders. It starts with a concern for the common good. To return to a civil society, we must care about what is good for all members of the community rather than only ourselves. We must share a common vision that is bigger than our own self-interests. Winsted needs to create a coalition of people who can see past their own political interest groups. We need to elect officials who can lead us toward that vision.