The Commonwealth
By the commonwealth I mean the world in which we find ourselve. It is constituted by the sharing of the earth between plants, animals, rock, trees and people. A neo-calvinist would call it the created order of society and ecology (maybe). Wendell Berry would call it the membership and the economy. I call it the commonwealth.
One reason i like this term is its implication of shared wealth. By thinking of things in terms of their commonwealth we remove ourselves from the center and instead consider how are actions benefit others.
Secondly, it is the simple recognition that all true w(h)ealth is common. What is truly best for each of us indivdually is best for others and the rest of creation.
Thirdly, it is an inherantly politicl term. It reminds me that politics (the way humans choose to live togethor) is economics is conservation.
This (like my description yesterday of what I mean by patriot)is a frail skeleton that I hope to slowly put flesh, sinew, and muscle on. But, here I stand a patriot of the commonwealth
posted by Matt Lyke at 8:49 PM
2 Comments:
Are there other places that refer to themselves as a commonwealth besides PA? I've always thought of it as a term so that surrounding cities don't have to annex into the bigger cities, as a psycological barrier to the problems of a city. So I'm all for redeeming this word.
Ross
10:47 AM
MA and VA for sure I think most of the other early states. How does the idea of the commonwealth avoid the urban question? In my mind it encourages us to think about the interrelatedness of city(ies) and country.
3:59 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home