{"id":1356,"date":"2026-08-07T05:37:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T05:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2026-08-07T05:37:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T05:37:50","slug":"the-good-and-the-bad-of-the-common-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1356","title":{"rendered":"The Good and the Bad of the \u2018Common Good\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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F<\/span>or the second time in the Trump presidency, the Right is debating the concept of the common good and how that concept fits within the American political tradition.<\/p>\n

Read more The Conservative Moment Arrives<\/a><\/p>\n

During Donald Trump\u2019s first term, the \u201ccommon good\u201d debate raged because the unorthodox president\u2019s nationalist instincts and policy prescriptions on issues such as trade and immigration clashed with the more globalist preferences of the Republican Party establishment. The debate is now raging once again, it seems, because JD Vance, the odds-on favorite to become the 2028 GOP presidential nominee, is seen as sympathetic to what might be called \u201ccommon good conservatism\u201d or \u201cpost-liberalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that impression of Vance is correct. I would know, because I have long traveled in many of these same circles. I weighed in heavily during these debates the first time around, even proposing a novel theory of constitutional interpretation called \u201ccommon good originalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this second round of the \u201ccommon good\u201d debate has been less than edifying. On the anti-\u201ccommon good\u201d side, there have been way too many intellectual arsonists razing fields of straw men of their own making. And on the pro-\u201ccommon good\u201d side, there has been way too much inane trolling and stupid, low-IQ slop.<\/p>\n

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The common good is emphatically part of the American political tradition.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

It is time to set the record straight about the common good. And the most obvious starting place is this: The common good is emphatically part of the American political tradition.<\/p>\n

The Constitution\u2019s Framers explicitly identified the common good as the very reason for the charter\u2019s existence: The Preamble simply refers to the identical concepts of a \u201cmore perfect Union\u201d and the \u201cgeneral Welfare.\u201d In The Federalist No. 57, James Madison wrote that the \u201caim of every political constitution\u201d should be the cultivation and elevation of \u201cmen who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society.\u201d<\/p>\n

The common good refers to a collectively held good that is attainable only when the political entity\u2019s citizens flourish in harmony with one another. It is a collective good that is greater than the sum of its parts. In politics, it is an aspirational goal \u2014 a statesman\u2019s lodestar. Plato and Aristotle spoke of the common good. So too, for that matter, did the Bible. As God said to the Israelites assembled at Mount Sinai, \u201cYou shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the current idiotic discourse on the common good is doing a disservice to an important debate.<\/p>\n

Read more Is \u2018Cancel Thanksgiving\u2019 Really a Winning Message for Democrats?<\/a><\/p>\n

Many of the loudest conservative critics of the common good see in its invocation a rejection of individual liberty. But that\u2019s a false choice. The Framers cherished liberty and saw it as one of the most important components of the common good. It\u2019s just that there are other components too, like order and virtue. Some of the common good critics imagine the common good-ers to be closet monarchists or statists. But that too is rubbish: Madison, who more than anyone else was the father of our non-monarchist and non-statist Constitution, described the common good as the document\u2019s very \u201caim.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, some of the common good\u2019s purported champions have turned out to be their very worst enemies. On X, some ostensible common good-ers have clamored, especially in light of the recent migrant invasion of Spanish exclave Ceuta, for \u201cFranco Friday.\u201d That would be a reference to Francisco Franco, the 20th-century Spanish dictator. No American should be praising fascism, or any individual fascist, in the name of the \u201ccommon good\u201d \u2014 period. Nor can the \u201ccommon good\u201d justify whitewashing antisemitism or any other sort of overt discrimination.<\/p>\n

The most frustrating part of this online slop-fest is that there is a real debate to be had here.<\/p>\n

In trade policy, America has<\/em> in recent decades veered too far on the side of globalism and consumerism, at the expense of production and supply chain resilience. In immigration policy, America has<\/em> in recent decades veered too far on the side of openness, at the expense of civic solidarity and cultural cohesion. And in the culture war, America has<\/em> in recent decades veered too far on the side of amoral, \u201clive and let live\u201d-style permissiveness \u2014 from marijuana to surrogacy to transgenderism, and beyond.<\/p>\n

How to balance individual liberty and dignity with the common good is one of the oldest questions in politics. But here\u2019s the thing: America\u2019s Founding Fathers had it right. They nailed it. Conservatives should recognize that, instead of rewriting the Founding or stanning for dictators.<\/p>\n

But in order to do that, we need a real debate first.<\/p>\n

READ MORE from Josh Hammer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Forget How Florida Defeated \u2018Faucism\u2019 and Vindicated Federalism<\/strong><\/p>\n

DSA Assault on Prisons Is Rooted in Third World-ist Lust for Barbarism<\/strong><\/p>\n

As AG, Todd Blanche Will Finally Seek Justice for Dems\u2019 Dirty Lawfare<\/strong><\/p>\n

To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.<\/strong><\/em>
\nCOPYRIGHT 2026\u00a0CREATORS.COM<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Five Quick Things: Which One of These DSA Morons Is the Worst One?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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