A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

I consider that working in the definition of the Common Good entails
the task of working in the socialist theory of transition as well. It is irreducible
as to the application of the concept to specific processes: “democratic
transition” only refers to the political sphere; “mercantile
transition” and “technological transition” (technical development) are
applied to economy. But I stress the importance of not overlooking the
integral concept of “socialist transition” in local specificities and in the
big scene.
I finísh these notes with two observations that seem indispensable to
me. The first consists in the fact that if we want to specify a doctrine of
the Common Good, we also have to try to specify the correlation between
national and international dimension, and consequently, the relationship
between the Common Good and internationalism. “A new
project is necessary to face the dangers run by the planet and by the
human race; a project demanding not only the widening of the scope of
Human Rights, but also a redefinition of the Common Good of Humanity
(on the basis of new paradigms)” 180 . For it to be totally comprehensive,
or even for it to be real, our alternative, which should arise from as many
local spaces as possible, has to aim at the totum.
My last observation refers to irreversibility. The most demobilizing disappointment
transmitted by the Soviet collapse was that “real socialism”
was not irreversible (ergo, neither was it real). So, what was it?
Well, I have my hypothetical answer, but it is too complex to advance it
here, where I am only interested in underlining that it is most important
not to limit ourselves to the dissection of its failures: we must try to explain
to ourselves what made it irreversible. And not out of strict Gnostic
or academic need, but because the attainment of the Common Good
has to aim at irreversibility. Either it is irreversible, or the better world
we preconize is not feasible.
180 François Houtart, op. cit.
362