It has been a common practice by most governments and institutions to impose actions forcefully in the pretext of a common good. Examples of these include, rising of income taxes which has resulted to unrest in most countries, government funding directed towards unnecessary projects, and passing of unreasonable laws. Some governments have gone to the level of taking individuals’ property and giving to others while claiming to increase the revenue from tax. Some include destroying peoples’ livelihoods while claiming to protect endangered species or expanding roads for the good of the public. There has also been a common practice of infringing the privacy of individuals, free market interference all in the name of a common good (Howard, 2002). Many rights have been curtailed and in some cases done away with for good of the public. Individual rights which do no harm to others must be protected by the governments, institutions or organizations at all costs. The government is for instance not justified to harm or even steal from people while trying to benefit a few individuals or groups. The liberty of an individual should not be interfered with provided that his/her liberty is not harmful to others. The laws that govern a people should not forcefully bring about differences both socially and economically just to gratify a few people who are in power or in higher positions. In the book: The Civil Society Reader, it is noted: “Among these powerful elite, the crisis of civic membership is expressed in the loss of civic consciousness, of a sense of obligation to the rest of society, which leads to a secession from society into guarded, gated residential enclaves and ultra-modern offices, research centers, and universities. Its sense of social covenant, of the idea that we are all members of the same body, is singularly weak. What is even more disturbing about this knowledge/power elite than its secession from society is its predatory attitude towards the rest of the society, its willingness to pursue its own interests without regard to anyone else” (Hodgkinson, 2003). There are several incidences where governments and regimes have abused individual rights for the common good. Take for instance the case where people who are prone to the danger of attack are disarmed for the common good. They are then prone to danger; some are attacked and killed, “for the common good.” Some utilitarian regimes barn certain types of music, they suppress freedom of speech and association all for the common good. Some regulate people’s believes for the common good (Murphy, 1990). There has to be a balance between the very important individual rights as well as their freedom and the needs of the society at large. In the cases of totalitarian societies, people tend to insist more on getting more individual liberty. On the other hand, in most of the western democracies, there is increased individual self-indulgence and the element of community self responsibility is lacking. In fact, people tend to criticize communitarian ideas. There ought to be a balance between the two. Hodgkinson and Foley in their book: The Civil Society Reader, note that; “Every state is a community of some ki