"There Is No Such Thing As Society"

The title of this post was taken from a quote by Margaret Thatcher. This article describes what has been happening in the US as Thatcher's idea has morphed into to the lack of investment in the public good. That concept, along with the idea of the common,
has eroded over the last 30 years.

Robert Reich describes many examples, but I was struck by an experience that I had a couple of years ago. I live in a small town north of Boston. It is located on the ocean, and it has a beautiful little park that takes advantage of gorgeous harbor views where one can watch the sailboats going out to sea. It is commonly used by families and local organizations to host New England style clambakes. We hosted a clambake to celebrate our anniversary and sent out invitations to our friends. I was really surprised to learn that many of our friends, who have lived in our small town for a long time, had never been to the park. Some did not even know how to find it. It occurred to me that they have no need for public parks or other public goods. We belong to the same club, and our kids play together, but we live in different worlds. They pay taxes to support public facilities that they don't use, and they pay taxes to fund our fine school system while sending their kids to private schools. They are good citizens but they do not share the same world as the great majority of their fellow citizens. It is not surprising that some of them might look the other way when others who have difficulty paying taxes, to fund pubic goods, lead the effort to cut public spending. Some may even support the effort. The collapse of the public good, or the notion of society, is affecting everyone. Even those who don't need pubic facilities benefit from public investments that support the public good. It is easy to forget the things that made us a great nation.