Progressive Values Stories: Scott Henderson on the Common Good

 
Progressive versus Failed Conservative Values: Scott Henderson

I find conservatives tend to favor what they would call rugged individualism, which is fine if we’re in a situation where there’s a low population like the old West.  But in large communities, towns and cities, you have to start looking out for the common good.

Hilary Clinton wrote a book saying it takes a village to raise a child.  conservatives dispute this idea – they say, no, it takes a family to raise a child.  I think they’re wrong, because they’re not looking at the entire system – education, things like feeding the family.  I think conservatives have good intentions and mean well, but I don’t think they fully comprehend the importance of all of us supporting each other.

Progressive Values Metaphor:  Scott Henderson - Aspen Grove

Several metaphors come to mind.  One is the conservatives would probably say they’re like the mighty oak, because they stand alone and stand up for the all the elements that might attack the oak.  A progressive would say they’re more like a grove of aspens, because they’re all joined at the roots, and they spring up and can be very beautiful – their shimmering leaves in the fall, and the wind blowing through them.  And they’re very strong, because if you kill one aspen tree, the rest are all joined at the roots, and they can still sustain.

Common Good Definition
The good of a community;
 

From Wikipedia
The common good is a term that can refer to several different concepts. In the popular meaning, the common good describes a specific "good" that is shared and beneficial for all (or most) members of a given community. This is also how the common good is broadly defined in philosophy, ethics, and political science.

Increasingly, progressive Americans are adopting the language of the common good to describe progressive values. As an ethical and moral imperative, the common good is central to the tenets of many religious faiths and can be succinctly described as doing unto others, to use a Biblical phrase, as we would wish done unto ourselves. Aristotle was the first to articulate an ethical understanding of common good, followed by Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas who developed the concept into standard moral theology.
 

More Progressive Values Stories:
I am working on a documentary to answer the question, What are Progressive Values? So far, I have interviewed over 100 progressives and have placed over 350 video clips on YouTube with the various replies.  This is part of a continuing series of interviews of progressives telling their personal stories about their progressive values.  

Edwin Rutsch
What Are Progressive Values? Documentary Project
http://ProgressiveSpirit.com 
and Study Group

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