We must recover the common good
A new political idea can address a societal need for a short time, but when the idea solidifies into an ideology it becomes doctrinaire and inflexible. And so with neo-liberalism: initially liberating, it has for the past few decades, as John Tons observes, decreed “that it is both morally wrong and technically unnecessary for governments to intervene to remediate inequalities”. As a result we see growing social inequalities: the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, ever-increasing intergenerational inequity, and the debacle of The Voice. The idea that any tax should be increased, or new tax introduced, to better balance the economic or social needs of all is met with horror by the political right and the largely right-wing media. We no longer have an over-riding sense of the common good.
The Council for the Human Future details ten megarisks which threaten humanity. Our youth, and future generations, stand in the front line facing these megarisks, but their needs are rarely prioritised. Tons seeks a new social contract; the Council for the Human Future wants an Earth Systems Treaty. For either to gain political traction, we must also re-establish our society’s acceptance of the primacy of the common good.
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