"We have met the enemy and he is us."
I was going to say...communitarianism sounds so good in theory. In practice there has to be an arbiter higher than the group or else discord rules in short order. A monastery is a communitarian group that works because the organizing principles are founded on shared religious beliefs, with God as the ultimate arbiter. But secular communitarian groups invariably end up being personality cults.
I think you're missing the whole point. While I don't agree with the communitarians on what constitutes the public good, such as smoking bans, seat belt laws, etc., they are right about the fact that individualism is running rampant in western countries, to the point where it is undermining any sense that there even is a common good or any good beyond that of the individual. We have exalted individual rights above everything else, including the responsibility that accompanies the exercise of any right. When the individual's right to pursue happiness becomes more important than his duty to the community, then justice suffers.
Of the many examples of flawed thinking I could choose from in this article, I think this one gets to the heart of the matter. The communitarians make two errors here.
First, they present individual rights as an obstacle to or in opposition against the common good. That just isn't the case. Economic liberty leads to the most efficient allocation of resources in a community- it leads to the greatest total wealth for a society. Personal liberty enriches a culture. The freedom to think, create, and criticize only make a culture stronger, not weaker.
Second, for all their rhetoric about respect for the individual, they seem awfully willing to resort to coercion to achieve their goals. Laws are the first and only solution they offer for protecting the "social fabric". Even if I accept that there needs to be more concern for community, why does it have to come from the barrel of a government gun? Whatever happened to persuasion, voluntary organizations, or involvement in church groups?
This may have been the best part, though:
Etzioni sums up the communitarian ideal in his New Golden Rule: "-- Respect and uphold societys moral order as you would have society respect and uphold your autonomy. --"
Is it just me, or did anyone else find this "New Golden Rule" to be utterly self-contradicting and senseless?
They also note that up is down, black is white, war is peace, ignorance is strength, and freedom is slavery.