In philosophy, ethics and political science the common good is a specific ‘good’ that is shared and is beneficial for all or most members of a given community. Pope Francis, in his latest encyclical Laudato sì, says: “Underlying the principle of the common good is respect for the human person as such, endowed with basic and inalienable rights ordered to his or her integral development.

“The common good has also to do with the overall welfare of society and the development of a variety of intermediate groups, applying the principle of subsidiarity. Outstanding among those groups is the family, as the basic cell of society.”

Writing on ‘Dignity and the common good’ (January 31, 2014), President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, then minister for the family and social solidarity and now President,said: “Often, over the past few months, I have found myself wondering about us as a society rediscovering our commitment to the common good. The question before me, therefore, is how can we, as a society, commit ourselves to the ethic of the common good.

“The common good involves the government, the private sector, civil society and public institutions working well together.

“It is built on the reassurance that the country has an affordable and accessible public healthcare system, universal education, social benefits, a just legal political system and a flourishing economy.”

In his article ‘Sustainability buzzword’ (June 29), sociologist Michael Brigulio wrote: “Sustainability was meant to encourage different social sectors to work together for the common good. On the other hand, critics point out that some antagonistic interests cannot be reconciled. For example, they argue that no green sugar coating will make fossil fuel industries sustainable.

“Besides, the common good can be in peril where short-term self-interest prevails. The case of boreholes in Malta is a case in point. These might provide water for users, however, the end result is degradation of groundwater which can eventually become unfit for use. The common good can however be promoted and protected through education and through direct political action.”

Martin Scicluna, in his article ‘State of local politics’ (April 15), argues that “there can be no solutions to social, economic, environmental and political problems in Malta that do not involve civil society exercising its rights in pursuit of the common good. The abrogative referendum (on spring hunting) represented the ultimate expression of the role of civil society in telling our politicians in an irrevocable manner that the derogation granted by successive governments has proved wrong in principle and objectionable in practice.”

Covenant is politics without power, economics without self-interest

Economist Joe Zahra (‘Time for a new politics’, The Sunday Times of Malta, April 26) states that “politics has degenerated into a bundle of sleaze, corruption, deceit, manipulation and ‘scratching the surface’ where vice has taken over from virtue.”

He comments at large on Forging a new politics, a recently-published book, containing compilation of essays titled ‘Blue Labour’ in the UK.

It sets the scene for a new way of doing politics in a difficult time when established politics and politicians are losing their credibility and are being criticised for losing touch with reality.

He observes that their space is being taken up by populist and nationalist parties on the extreme right or left and which thrive on hardening sentiments of greed, envy and fear.

He contends that “The new politics is found in Christianity and specifically in Catholic social teaching”. He quotes Maurice Glasman, one of the essayists, who is a Labour life peer and himself a Jew, who constructs his new political narrative on the principles of the popes’ encyclicals and on the notion of the common good.

The common good calls for social peace, the stability and security provided by a certain order that cannot be achieved without particular concern for distributive justice. Pope Francis says that whenever this is violated, violence always ensues.

According to British and Commonwealth scholar Jonathan Sacks liberal democracy has tended to concentrate on the individual and on one particular power, the power to choose (his book The Home we build togther).To choose what to buy, how to live. In this way surely we gain as individuals but we lose as a society.

There are things so important to human dignity that they should be availbale to all. Not just those with wealth or power.

That is when the concept of covenant comes into play: the idea that all of us must come together to ensure the dignity of each one of us.

“Covenant is the politics of the common good.” Covenant is when we create cooperation by joining together in a moral association that turns you and i into “we”. I help you , you help me because there are things we care about together.

Covenant is a binding commitment, which is entered into by two or more parties, to work and care for one another while respecting the freedom, integrity and difference of each.

Covenant is politics without power, economics without self-interest.

Society as a whole and the State, in particular, are obliged to defend and promote the common good... the good of all of us together.

Tony Mifsud is a social worker at the Social Assistance Secretatiat.