The preamble to the Constitution
We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
For most citizens, the preamble is the heart of the Constitution for which all laws and government efforts need to support. Note, it says "we the people" not the states nor any particular group. The union was formed to promote the common good.
The common good has been under attack by those seeking to further their
own fortunes at the expense of the common good. In the last forty or so years a new selfish form of capitalism has been thrust on the country and on the rest of the world inappropriately called neoliberalism, In this course, we will learn about neoliberalism, how it came to dominate our economy and government, affects our lives and the common good. Then we will discuss how we can defend the common good.
There will not be enough time in the twelve hours of the course to cover all of the topics so participants will select a topic to investigate in more depth in which they have a particular interest and present their findings/argument to the class.
I will discuss the book and present mostly videos on the most important topics including
the common good, neoliberalism, socialism, negative effects of neoliberalism, the movement behind neoliberalism, and possible solutions for regaining the common good. Purchasing the book is strongly suggested but is optional.
Our resources include the text, The Common Good, by Robert Reich, this website, presentations in class, and of course contributions by class members.
Slideshow: https://us2-broadcast.
