The Guardian. August 22, 2021. Robert Reich, who is no slouch when it comes to knocking out a thought-provoking article, does it once again by raising the issue of “the common good” in his latest column. Which may makes this the perfect piece to wrap up a less than perfect summer. As Reich notes, service to the common good has diminished substantially as a factor in choosing how we deal with crises, big and small, pandemics and/or climate emergencies. Like Reich, I remember receiving polio vaccine (and several others) when growing up, all administered and accepted as a means to keep both myself and others healthy. But now, as he points out, when both Covid and wildfire smoke imperil the very air we need to stay alive, “we’d rather not pay attention”, blame others, and “tell ourselves there is nothing we can do”, as if the concern is only about how these crises affect us, individually. This is a change that sabotages the communities we want, in which groups of people share and work to preserve their common interests. As Reich argues, we beat polio and killer smogs by attending to the common good. Perhaps, that is a value we need to reinstill. [ARTICLE LINK]