Common Good PA

WE BELIEVE PITTSBURGH

The Common Good is our Commonwealth

Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn as a Holy Experiment, encompassing a vision of peace, justice, generosity, and tender mercies -- A Commonwealth for the Common Good. 

In order to be true to this heritage, we need policies and priorities that will bring a peaceable life to Pennsylvanians, care for our planet and all who live on it and make all of our lives better healthier, and safer. To these ends we support the following: 

We, citizens and stewards of the Commonwealth, value the natural beauty of “Penn’s Woods” and deeply appreciate the bounty that its natural resources have provided.  We acknowledge our close relationship with our natural surroundings knowing that our own health and wellbeing are intimately connected to the health and wellbeing of our environment.  We recognize our responsibility to repair any damage done and to live sustainably to ensure that future generations inherit a commonwealth that is able to provide for their common good.  Therefore, all legislation and policies must factor in the effect on the environment with a priority given to a clean and sustainable environment.

 

 

The Common Good commitment to health requires our caring for the physical, emotional, and spiritual well being of all the residents of Pennsylvania, creating a humane and healthy society.  We are committed to the establishment of a health care system that reflects shared responsibility for health, that empowers and respects  patients and providers, that is continuous and comprehensive (including prevention, acute, and long term care), that is affordable, and that promotes quality improvement.  We recognize that achieving substantial gains in health also requires systemic societal changes to reduce the inordinate stress in peoples' lives, enhance our natural environment, and improve our food supply.

 

Common Good demands our dedication to human rights.

Pennsylvania is blessed with diverse cultures and faith traditions.Our diversity will bear the fruit of shared freedom when we realize our interconnected creative potential.

 

When political, cultural, and economic forces work together in a collaborative fashion for the common good of all people we can create an environment where the dignity of all persons will be foremost in our decision making.

 

Living wages earned in safe and respectful working environments, safe and affordable housing, compassion for our elderly, support of all loving relationships and gender equity mirror our longing for deeply principled human rights policies.

 

Our faith practices teach us to respect the dignity of everyone. For this reason we both anticipate and welcome those newly arrived workers who seek economic renewal. 

We will treat immigrants with compassion, justice and fairness.

 

Our schools must be equally financed to allow all students to develop the academic, social and emotional tools necessary to discover and develop their unique talents and gifts. Pennsylvania's educational success must include opportunities for learning about the core values of our society which include freedom and justice for all persons, democratic processes in our political system and respecting civil and human rights of all.   It is through principled education that socially, ethically, ecologically responsible and compassionate citizens will make good choices for the future.

 

The security of each Pennsylvanian is inter-dependent with that of everyone else on the planet.

 

True security requires trust, empathy and responsibility for one's self and for others.  In order to achieve this, the paradigm must shift from domination characterized by control and competition by some, to the common good of all characterized by generosity, cooperation, kindness and the recognition of  the value and necessity of diversity in all aspects of life.

 

Anger and hatred, derived from fear and deprivation, breed war, terrorism, crime, and lack of concern for human beings and for the planet as a whole. We maintain that all life is sacred and it is our mission as people of faith to advocate for its security throughout the world.

 

It is through our willingness and courage that legislators and citizens will foster the moral and spiritual sensitivity now to co-create a future where our Commonwealth is our Common Good.

1st Draft