100 Despots -- Democracy's Weakness.

“The common good” is highly arbitrary as a political phrase, and its meaning has evolved tremendously since the days of the Roman Republic.  The Romans lived in nearly uniform communities, thus the definition “what was best for the entire society” was much more plausible than it is today in America.  However, even now, the phrase is often interpreted to mean legislation that imminently satisfies the majority of people.  This is an idea I completely disagree with.  Since its founding, this nation’s fundamental principles have been in protecting people’s rights.  In breaking away from Britain, Americans asserted that the minority (Parliament and the king) had done ill in oppressing the majority.  Now instead, the United States too often sacrifices the purpose of government itself solely to give temporary satisfaction to large groups of people.  I believe that the connotation that comes with “the common good” has much to do with foresight, rather than immediate privileges. Legislation like the Thirteenth and Twenty-sixth Amendments may not directly “benefit” the majority of people; for the first seems to affect only those of African descent, and the latter, those who were not originally guaranteed voting rights.  But these two amendments undoubtedly epitomize what is good for both the environment and the integrity of the nation.  These amendments model what America, as a country, stands for; and when others cannot argue that our nation’s laws are hypocritical in themselves, that is just a brief glimpse of what the common good entails.