The purpose of the Open Minds website is to explore the ideal of a greater common good in our nation, society and economy, in our organizations and institutions, in our communities, our relationships and families, and ultimately, in our selves.
The greater common good is an ideal, and for our purpose it refers to the expansion, the advancement, the elevation and the sustainability of good things on behalf of all humanity, those good things not arising at the expense of certain individuals or groups. As an ideal it carries potential energy, and it exists to guide and influence our thoughts, actions and achievements – – individually and collectively. When we allow our thoughts, actions and achievements to be guided, influenced and energized by the ideal of a greater common good, our creations benefit the group, and those benefits are also shared and distributed to each and every member in a balanced, just, impartial, unbiased and honorable manner.
Humans are remarkable. We are remarkable on an individual basis and we are even more remarkable as a collective, when two or more of us join together to function as one in a relationship, a family, a community, in an organization or institution, or in a nation, society or economy. Collectively, our competence and our capacity is so substantial it exists well beyond our awareness and understanding as individuals. Our most remarkable achievements happen when we focus our efforts in a group and tap into our collective competence and capacity. The list of our remarkable achievements is extensive, and many of them are quite admirable, some less so, and while remarkable, unfortunately some are downright despicable.
Today, we experience the ongoing and rather relentless elevation and concentration of individual self-interests. Insidiously, we band together in groups whose purpose is to elevate and concentrate our individual self-interests, although that purpose is usually concealed behind thin yet convincing veils of rationale, myth and justification. The elevation and concentration of individual self-interests eclipses and mutes the interests of the human collective, it obstructs and arrests the ideal of a greater common good, and also, ironically, the elevation and concentration of individual self interests inhibits and compromises the well being of all of us as individuals.
The coexistence of individual self interests and the interests of the human collective is one of many complicated and paradoxical dualities, and as such, our individual self interests and the interests of the human collective are meant to coexist in a thoughtful, balanced and harmonious state. Complicated and paradoxical dualities are at the center of our human struggles, as our capacity for thoughtful balance and harmony tends to be elusive.
One of our older and more powerful shared competencies is our ability to communicate with one another. The purpose of the articles posted here on Open Minds is to dive right into topics connected to individual self interests, the interests of the human collective, and the actualization and realization of the ideal of a greater common good. Success for the Open Minds website is when the articles stimulate constructive thought, conversation, action and achievement centered on the ideal of a greater common good and on the wider interests of the human collective.
The topics and ideas I want to explore are usually difficult, challenging and frustrating. While I want to push deeply into these topics and ideas, I always want to be thoughtful, caring, measured and respectful, and I never want to be offensive or hurtful.
Please share your feedback – – feedback is one important and intended outcome of this website and the articles published here. Please don’t hesitate to speak your mind, but please be thoughtful, caring, measured and respectful when sharing your feedback.
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Make sure your intentions are not only for yourself, but also for the common good. — Deepak Chopra
An ideal is an ultimate reality that one strives to achieve. — Plato
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
72% of people believe ideals lead to a more fulfilling life. — Pew Research
We rise by lifting others. — Robert Ingersoll
Ideals are like stars to the seafaring people, they guide you to your destination and to your destiny. — Carl Schurz