Carlos Freile
The great Greek thinkers already identified the common good as the ultimate goal of all political action. In the Middle Ages Saint Thomas Aquinas synthesized its content in the peace and harmony of the community. Only in a climate of harmony can a community progress based on work. In the critical moments that Ecuador is experiencing, it will be necessary to ask ourselves honestly and without subterfuge if our politicians and our judges have really sought the common good, if they have not been carried away by their interests, sometimes unspeakable as many citizens suspect.
The first touchstone for that assessment of our politicians It is their attitude towards citizen peace: if we see that they avoid negative confrontations, that they seek dialogue with those who are in other trenches, that they do not descend into insults or slander… we should see them with sympathy and try to support them; otherwise our duty would be to distance ourselves from them, not to support them neither with the word nor with the vote.
The second stone consists in verifying if they really seek the good of the entire national community and do not defend their parcels of power or wealth; This verification should not be made by analyzing his words but his works: his initiatives, whether in the central or sectional government, in the Assembly, or in the judiciary, must obviously tend to improve living conditions of the majorities; the results should be visible to anyone who wants to see them impartially.
Some current political thinkers maintain that the common good is a utopia because it is impossible to respond to the demands of all social groups; however, with dialogue and with the conviction that each and every one of us must do our bit to build and give up something for the benefit of those who have less than us (not only in material goods but in opportunities, in hopes…) a better society can be built, especially if we try to keep the peace, because without it there will never be enough work, lasting savings, lasting projects. Therefore, the first obligation of a conscious citizen is to collaborate for the empire of peace and prevent the abusive role of the violent.