General Welfare v. Common Good

[Martin Hash]

Definitions mean something – when they get confused, people get confused. Phrases only mean something in their context – when they are out of context, they do not mean the same thing.

The words “general welfare" are used in the in U.S. Constitution a couple of times – it is amazing how misinterpreted those two simple words are! To understand them, you need to know their context... At the time they were written, Americans had declared their independence from monarchies – The People before The King. The meaning of “general welfare” in the Constitution means the opposite of "benefit to the Crown," i.e. taxes are collected for the general welfare of the people, not the pecuniary interests of the king. It does NOT have a socialist connotation, as many have implied by equating it to the term “common good,” probably because the two terms seem vaguely similar, though they do not mean the same thing at all. "Common good" is a translation from the Communist Manifesto. (Google “common good Marx” to see for yourself.) Does anybody REALLY think that Thomas Jefferson, father of the Declaration Of Independence, grandfather of the Constitution (James Madison was his protégé), founder of the Republican Party, and arch-conservative, was presaging Karl Marx?

On the other hand, “liberty” is a mainstay ideal of the Constitution. Liberty means individual choice – person before the state – individualism before collectivism. The opposite of socialism.