Common good conservatism
Ran across this interesting op-ed from the Washington Post today courtesy of the God's Politics Blog. Michael Gerson is a former White House speechwriter, and in this piece he posits a fork in the road for conservatives. On one side (I'll resist right and left for obvious reasons) is the no-nonsense market driven view of things. The only good thing government can do is get out of the way (or at least keep everything else besides market transactions out of the way). The other is the Catholic styled view of limited government, but a concern for the pursuit of the common good, particularly protection for the poor and marginalized. He favors the latter, to his credit, but fears that few Republicans these days share his view.
I have my doubts about this--particularly whether a "free" market can ever create the kind of justice Gerson describes. I'm not sure exactly what he's calling for, perhaps a marketized version of current welfare programs? But even then, one might question whether the market will solve welfare or just find more efficient ways to keep people poor and concentrate capital with the rich.
Still, it's a noteworthy call. The lack of such a community based vision is the primary reason I'm not giving the GOP the time of day at the moment. What's good for the market isn't good for my community, and that's been the case for awhile. Let's hope more conservatives like Gerson have a voice in shaping the direction of their party.