I was at a meeting last night, the speaker was old, but relevant and amusing. One statement resonates with me.
"We pretended to work for them, they pretended to pay us."
It was the words of a person he met in his travels and work among the former Union of Soviet Socialist Repulics. An interesting way to describe utopian life in a socialist atmosphere isn't it?
Working toward the common good isn't something that can be forced upon a people, it is something that must be felt. If a person has faith, believes in the greater good, and acts upon it, we would call it philanthropy, which is in fact a great idea. So, rather than force "goodwill and sharing" upon us, let's strive to ingrain philanthropic ideals into our population. Church and many other community organizations live these principles everyday. The various clubs in your towns, ie. Kiwanis, Lions, Optimist, etc. have mission statements to better their respective communities. So, rather than restrict the "common good" to our government(s) perhaps we should encourage philathropic organizations within our government(s).
I'll leave you with this thought:
Milton Hershey, the late founder and prorpietor of Hershey Foods, Inc. and his wife Katy started a philathropic organization in 1909. After his death in 1945 he left the lion's share of his fortune to this organization. And now, in 2010 the Milton Hershey School still exists, has a student body of approximately 1800 students, as well as the controlling interest in the Hershey Company and more than 6 billion dollars in its coffers.
Would that have been possible under communism? socialism? You be the judge.
J-
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