
In "The Common Good," Robert Reich confronts our fractured society and asks: Can America survive without shared values? A powerful manifesto for civic responsibility that challenges both conservatives and liberals to rediscover what unites us in an age of toxic tribalism.
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What happens when the unwritten rules that hold a society together begin to unravel? Picture the small American town where nobody locked their doors at night-not out of naivety, but because trust was woven into the fabric of daily life. That world feels increasingly distant. Over the past five decades, something fundamental has shifted in how Americans relate to one another and to the institutions that govern our lives. The common good-that invisible web of mutual obligation and shared values-has been systematically exploited by those with the power to do so. This isn't just about politics or economics; it's about the erosion of trust itself. When Martin Shkreli raised the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, defending his actions with "This is a capitalist society," he wasn't just being ruthless. He was revealing how far we've drifted from the understanding that we're bound together in something larger than individual gain. The real danger isn't one person's greed-it's that exploitation breeds more exploitation. Like the first thief in that unlocked-door town, early violators of social norms gain tremendous advantage. But once trust breaks, everyone else must adopt costly defensive measures, and the entire system degrades. We're now living in the aftermath of that degradation, and the question facing us is stark: Can we rebuild what's been lost?