OpEdNews - Diary: Maybe you are a Communitarian, but don't know it yet.

November 20, 2008 at 16:19:47 Permalink
Maybe you are a Communitarian, but don't know it yet.

Diary Entry by Richmond Shreve (about the author)

Libertarian, liberal, progressive, conservative, neo-conservative --- We all imagine we know what these labels stand for. Maybe there is another point in the sphere of "-isms."

::::::::

A small group of political intellectuals has adopted the name "communitarian." Here, in part, is what they stand for (from the website at GW):

"In contrast to conventional "right" or "left" approaches to social policy, communitarians emphasize the need for a balance between rights and responsibilities. Communitarians believe that strong rights presume strong responsibilities and that the pendulum of contemporary society has swung too far in the direction of individual autonomy at the expense of individual and social responsibility. One key to solving contemporary America’s social problems is replacing our pervasive "rights talk" with "responsibility talk."

In finding solutions to our social problems, communitarians seek to rely neither on costly government programs nor on the market alone, but on the powerful "third force" of the community. By reawakening communities and empowering communities to assert their moral standards, communitarians seek to hold individuals accountable for their conduct. "

Worth a visit to read more: http://www.gwu.edu/~icps/vision.html.

Richmond Shreve is a Senior Editor at OEN, a writer, and an author of short stories. His "Lost River Anthology" (amazon.com) was released in March 2009. His "Instructor Candidate Manual" (lulu.com) is widely used by motorsport clubs to train (more...)

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.