COMMON GOOD STILL TOO UNCOMMON FOR TOO MANY

The common good means something different to everyone, but that’s still not right.

A simple definition might clear things up, starting with the basics, the common needs for human existence.

Fortunately, it’s already been done.

Thank you, Abraham Maslow.

Food – The body needs calories and a variety of nutrients including protein, fat, and carbohydrates everyday to grow, function, and repair. Without food, the body begins to atrophy.

Before you lock up your freezer in case Fox News tells you the government is coming after your road-kill fixin’s, food in this case is sustenance.

If you’ve ever been subjected to harsh treatments, and I hope you haven’t, like chemo for cancer, then you’ve seen some atrophy up close.

For those not circling the chemo drain, food means the ability to function. It takes a pretty cold person to stand by hungry people while choking down their third plate of fried okra.

What’s worse? Standing by while a loved one expires in an over-crowded ICU when they could have been vaccinated.

But they still had their freedoms.

Water

Ample hydration allows for the processes of the body to occur. Without water the body cannot process food or remove wastes.

Drinking clean water, washing your body in clean water, wearing clothes washed in clean water.

The common theme for the common good is clean water. It seems weird to say clean water instead of just water. Thanks Flynt.

And save the talk about water in the ocean. No one’s drinking that, pal, not even your hunt dogs.

Shelter

We require protection from blazing sun, freezing temperatures, wind, and rain. Without shelter, human skin and organs are damaged from extreme temperatures.

Shelter for the common good is not a gold-plated penthouse in an over-crowded city. That some city slicked up con-man who spends too much time looking in a mirror to check his hair and make-up like a drag queen before showtime gained acceptance with common people is hard to grip.

How people living common lives fall in with a shit-spouting fountain of hate is still a mystery. That he was also accepted in the sheltering churches of the evangelical bible teaching movement is an even bigger mystery.

Or is it?

Clothing

Clothing isn’t on Maslow’s list, but it should be. I think he included clothing with shelter.

Do we need clothing to survive?

Or are we just as well off as the average contestants on Naked and Afraid?

That’s a hard No.

One contestant rode the jitney to the drop-off point while running his mouth.

Mother Nature was just another bitch to him, and he’d be fine. He lasted one day. Apparently cooperation wasn’t part of his skill set. Neither was shelter building or food gathering.

He left camp quietly, with an audience wondering why he even bothered to go in the first place.

Clothing for the common good isn’t a status symbol of brand awareness, or scientific fabric for evaporating sweat as fast as it appears.

Instead, it’s clothes that fit, clothes that fit in, clothes appropriate for work and life.

(Does anyone else get dressed and think, ‘I’d never buy this at Goodwill, but it looks good here.)

The Common Good Helps Everyone

Today the common good is focused on getting passed the Covid-19 pandemic, or should be.

Wear a mask without being told like you’re a second grader. Get vaccinated without threats or making threats.

Dodging the vaccine like it’s the mountain you choose to die on is a bad move. Besides, you might die whether you planned on it or not.

If you live in an anti-vaxx household and someone gets sick enough to go to the hospital, they’re going in alone, lying in bed alone, and dying alone. That’s not how anyone shows love for a loved one.

Get the first shot, the second shot, and the booster. Then check the time.

It’s Human Time and your fellow humans need you to step up.

Can you do that? Yes, you can.