{"id":2893,"date":"2010-10-09T20:25:26","date_gmt":"2010-10-10T00:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pennaction.org\/pablog\/?p=2893"},"modified":"2011-07-23T22:04:45","modified_gmt":"2011-07-23T22:04:45","slug":"2893","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marcstier.com\/blog2\/?p=2893","title":{"rendered":"Building a New Commonwealth: The Penn ACTION Agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Penn ACTION will work on a variety of issue campaigns and civic engagement campaigns and, at some point in the future, is likely to endorse political candidates as well. But Penn Action isn’t just about moving a series of independent issue issues. If we want to build a strong progressive movement in Pennsylvania; \u00a0if we want people to be willing stay active and engaged politically and to help us build political power, we have to work toward a set of \u00a0goals and ideals that transcend a list of issues that concern us at one particular time. We<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One way to formulate the ideals and aspirations that unite progressives, and to do so in a way that resonates with our history in Pennsylvania, is thisL our goal is create a new and better commonwealth here in Pennsylvania and in the United States as a whole.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A commonwealth is a particular kind of political community. It is one in which we come together not just to secure goods that flow to us as individuals but, rather, to create a way of life we can\u2019t create on our own. A commonwealth is a community in which we are, and see ourselves, as being all in this together.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What are the chief elements of a commonwealth?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

First, in a Commonwealth we are focused not just on individual goods but on common goods.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A Commonwealth recognizes that there\u00a0are many goods we cannot secure on our own\u00a0including:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n