Can we find our way to the common good?

I still remember a question I got years ago. It was at a public meeting in southern Indiana, where a young woman commented that I’d traveled throughout the US and wanted to know: What was my impression of Americans? I didn’t even hesitate: The American people are fundamentally decent, I told her.

Why even mention this? Because at the moment, we live in a country where a lot of Americans don’t beli...