How Our Work Benefits the Common Good

Whatever work we do, it more than likely benefits the common good. While the concept of "common good" has historically been a part of philosophy (from ancients to moderns), the law, politics, etc., we're using the term to in the Catholic sense. Our current Catholic Catechism defines the common good as ""the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily."

So how can our work benefit or contribute to the common good? Let's approach this with an example from my own work.

If I provide my clients with sound financial counsel, and they follow such counsel, they should as a result be more financially stable. Notice I'm not saying "rich" - simply stable. With said stability, they can be in the position to assure some modest level of security for themselves and their families. Beyond that, if they have available surplus, they might decide to help others who might have some need - either directly to people they know, or possibly by contributing money to organizations that purport to help people in need. 

That example tries to show that the actual work we do can benefit the common good.

Now, let's expand on this example to the rest of us. A simple and common place to start is with the fact that we all get paid for our work. Assuming we all work for pay, we might consider the following:

If you work hard you may make more than you need for the basics or your material needs, i.e., food, clothing, shelter. As a good steward of your money, you will likely have some sort of plan for those excess funds that includes saving for retirement, paying for or helping to pay for a child's education, squirreling some money away for emergencies, etc. Doing this provides stability and a modest level of security for yourself and your family. Your family being able to meet its financial obligations, and having reasonable surplus to anticipate emergencies or other future contingencies, you will not be a drain on others. Maybe you can even help others who have needs you can identify.

If everyone were able to do this, then our society (made up as it is of individuals) will serve the common good.

Then there's the case of the actual work we do. Again, here's an example from my own work life. 

I've had a number of different jobs over the course of my work life. I won't drag you through them all. But going all the way back to one of my first summer jobs when I was in high school should do the trick: working in a company cafeteria.

My Mom got me the job. She worked in cafeteria located in a factory in our city. It was kind of fun traveling by bus and being with her through the summer. Not only did I get to see what she did, but I did a lot of what she did as well. Without getting into the nitty-gritty, the purpose of our work was to feed the workers in the factory. They came at breakfast and at lunch, the night shift at dinner time. (I occasionally worked the evening shift to feed the guys who worked the night shift. It was extra dough for me too.) You spent your time prepping, serving, then cleaning up.

These guys (and it was mostly guys then) built quality consumer goods that people bought, that made the consumers' lives easier. So how did my work benefit the common good?

Simple. Our work fueled the guys so they could get down to their blue-collar physical labor with the energy they needed to do their jobs. And we had to do our jobs well 'cause - blue-collar guys that they were - if you didn't serve good stuff in the right portions, you heard about it. I remember one guy, who ordered a liverwurst and swiss on rye with mustard and butter, complaining that I put the butter on the swiss side, and the mustard on the liverwurst side. He insisted he told me to do the opposite. Frankly, I didn't remember hearing that instruction. But, naturally, I fixed the problem with an apology and re-do. I grew up in a blue-collar family and had a great deal of respect for these workers. It helped me understand why the mustard and the butter being on the right slab of bread mattered. He was paying good money and expected what he asked for.

I may not have realized it at the time, but my making sure he got what he ordered not only served my customer, but also served the common good.

More on this next time...