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“By common good is to be understood ‘the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.’” (CCC 1906)
References to the common good are, well, quite common these days. It seems the common good is everywhere.
Apparently, it’s a medical research company in Australia. It’s a single-use, plastic packaging company located in Brooklyn. It’s a North Carolina retailer that “consciously curates” a space for something called “intentional consumerism.” I’m told it’s also a “non-profit, non-partisan” organization made up of “civically-minded” professionals located in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., not to be confused with the “nonpartisan, reform coalition” out of New York and D.C. whose board membership boasts former Democratic New Jersey senator, presidential candidate and NBA basketball player Bill Bradley. And don’t forget about the “advertising, design and business transformation company” specifically aimed at brands whose mission is to “change the world for the better.”
Not every organization explicitly references the common good in its name but that doesn’t mean the biggest corporations in the world care any less about it. Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft — among many others — position themselves as “socially responsible” champions of the common good. Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock — the world’s largest asset manager — is perhaps the most famous. A proponent of what has now become known as ESG investing — investing based on a company’s score on environmental, social and governance policies — Fink isn’t afraid to use his company’s considerable clout. Blackrock regularly threatens to pull support from organizations if they fail to demonstrate sufficient progress on what he deems important societal metrics.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
References to the common good are, well, quite common these days. It seems the common good is everywhere.
Apparently, it’s a medical research company in Australia. It’s a single-use, plastic packaging company located in Brooklyn. It’s a North Carolina retailer that “consciously curates” a space for something called “intentional consumerism.” I’m told it’s also a “non-profit, non-partisan” organization made up of “civically-minded” professionals located in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., not to be confused with the “nonpartisan, reform coalition” out of New York and D.C. whose board membership boasts former Democratic New Jersey senator, presidential candidate and NBA basketball player Bill Bradley. And don’t forget about the “advertising, design and business transformation company” specifically aimed at brands whose mission is to “change the world for the better.”
Not every organization explicitly references the common good in its name but that doesn’t mean the biggest corporations in the world care any less about it. Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft — among many others — position themselves as “socially responsible” champions of the common good. Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock — the world’s largest asset manager — is perhaps the most famous. A proponent of what has now become known as ESG investing — investing based on a company’s score on environmental, social and governance policies — Fink isn’t afraid to use his company’s considerable clout. Blackrock regularly threatens to pull support from organizations if they fail to demonstrate sufficient progress on what he deems important societal metrics.
Continued below.
The Commonly Misunderstood Common Good
“By common good is to be understood ‘the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.’” (CCC 1906)
