johnbyronkuhner.com

A republic by definition depends on the existence of res publica, public property.  The existence of publicly held institutions, open to all, is the key to equality of opportunity.  As public programs will continue to face pressure from so-called Republicans, it is wise to call to mind how access to them has shaped lives.  I grew up poor in New York City, in a family that received food stamps and for many years could not afford a telephone or an oil burner, but I was immersed in the rich public life of the city, which meant a virtually unlimited supply of books, art, and educational opportunities.  Here is Bill Moyers on this topic:

‎I was one of the poorest white kids in town, but in many respects I was the equal of my friend who was the daughter of the richest man in town. I went to good public schools, had the use of a good public library, played sandlot baseball in a good public park and traveled far on good public roads with good public facilities to a good public university. Because these public goods were there for us, I never thought of myself as poor. When I began to piece the story together years later, I came to realize that people like the Moyerses had been included in the American deal. “We, the People” included us.

And:

In his Pulitzer Prize–winning book The Radicalism of the American Revolution, historian Gordon Wood says that our nation discovered its greatness “by creating a prosperous free society belonging to obscure people with their workaday concerns and pecuniary pursuits of happiness.” This democracy, he said, changed the lives of “hitherto neglected and despised masses of common laboring people.”

If this is a Christian nation, it is because of things like this.  The notion that zealous Christians in particular are working to overthrow the things which support “neglected and despised masses of common laboring people” is another of life’s horrific/amusing ironies.  Full speech here.