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Preface Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead Most people live busy lives. They have much to think about, including the well-being of their family and friends. People have little time or energy to think about the welfare of others or the Common Good. This can be left to the government. We try to vote in a government that aims to serve and advance the Common Good so that citizens can take care of their own problems. It is unfortunate when an elected government gets underfunded or politically split and unable to help people earn a living wage, establish sane immigration policies, fix our infrastructure, set better gun-control policies, or protect human and civil rights. The answer is to get political parties and elected officials to start work- ing together again. Even in the recent past, some Democrats and Republi- cans worked with each other to create bipartisan bills. Hopefully this will happen again when the public vents its distaste for political polarization and paralysis. But even if this happens, it won’t be enough. As long as the government spends so much on increasing our military might and our defi- cit and not enough on high-quality education and health for our citizens, we desperately need the help of businesses and nonprofit organizations to contribute to the Common Good. Businesses are not averse to caring about the Common Good. True, most businesses in the past focused exclusively on their shareholders with