Common Humanity: The Path to a Free and Prosperous Republic, Ending Common Enemy Politics with Enlightenment Citizenship
A civic-virtue blueprint for Americans who want liberty, stability and a way out of "common enemy" politics
Common Humanity presents a new philosophy for revitalizing the American republic through a renewed dedication to civic virtue and reason in public life.
Carey Martell traces the Enlightenment roots of ordered liberty and shows how the United States grew strong when citizens practiced independence, open inquiry, and voluntary cooperation. Instead of asking you to pick a tribe, this book offers a practical alternative to grievance-driven "common enemy" politics: a positive, portable framework you can use to judge ideas, discuss policy, and rebuild trust across deep disagreements.
You'll get a clear plan for civic renewal:
The Twelve Humanitas Virtues as actionable civic habits: Liberty, Justice, Accountability, Prudence, Tolerance, Moderation, Dignity, Solidarity, Security, Fortitude, Societal Progress, PatriotismCommon Humanity Policy Tests: a straightforward checklist for evaluating proposals without ideological purity trapsA civics-first approach that defends open debate, supports competitive markets, and insists on evidence, reason, and equal justice under lawRestoring the true political frames of referenceIn American politics, the public has lost the shared map that makes debate intelligible. Words like liberal, conservative, progressive, socialism, capitalism and Marxism are routinely used as insults or marketing slogans instead of as clear descriptions for specific political philosophy schools. When the terms lose their meanings, citizens cannot tell what policies actually are, what they're meant to do or what principles they claim to serve. Common Humanity restores the proper frame of reference by rebuilding definitions from the Enlightenment roots of the American republic, separating political Liberalism from "liberal religion," and untangling the categories people constantly confuse. With the terms repaired, readers can follow what's happening in national life again, recognize propaganda that depends on semantics and word-games, and judge proposals on evidence, liberty and the rule of law rather than tribal rhetoric.
In modern politics, citizens are not just debating policies, they are being pulled into systems that reward manipulation and dysfunction. Common Humanity draws on Andrzej Lobaczewski's concepts of pathocracy and ponerogenesis to explain how institutions can be gradually bent toward the interests of psychologically disordered power-seekers and how a society can be "gaslit" through double-meanings and deliberate narrative deception. The book shows why this is especially dangerous in a republic, where stability depends on citizens cooperating for the common good rather than being driven into factional hysteria.
Common Humanity also explains how netocracy accelerates this corruption by putting information control in the hands of a digital elite, the "digerati," who can shape what people see, redefine meanings, spread disinformation and apply economic and social pressure through platform and finance gatekeeping.
Underneath these systems is the emotional fuel that keeps "Common Enemy" politics alive. Common Humanity uses Nietzsche's concept of ressentiment to describe how grievance-based movements can invert values, treating victimhood as moral superiority while vilifying competence, dissent and merit.
Common Enemy politics has divided America. Common Humanity will heal it. If you want a way forward built on integrity, duty, and voluntary cooperation among citizens of all backgrounds, this book is written for you.
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