“The Public” Disappears - FDL

[WillyT]

“The Public” Disappears
By: Glenn W. Smith - FDL
Sunday May 15, 2011 9:30 am

<snip>

“There is no such thing as society.” – Margaret Thatcher

The word public, as in public schools or public option, has become a dirty word in, uh, public life. The question is, can a nation survive once it has abandoned not just moral notions of the public good but the positive notion that there is a public?

Authorities in Fort Worth, Texas, apparently at the urging of their oil industry benefactors, removed the word “public” from the name of the city library. It’s now the Fort Worth Library, not the Fort Worth Public Library. Why? They explain the reason in their press release: the word “public” has “negative connotations.”

Chisara N. Asomugha, a Connecticut physician and ordained minister, wrote in the Washington Post:

Have you ever noticed that when “public” is used descriptively in conversation — public school, public transportation, public (or county) hospital — the quality of the item is called into question? Change the word “public” to “private” and the perception is that the product is superior. It begs the question whether the public option is concerning not because it is a public option, but because the concept of a “public” anything brings to mind images of inferior or bureaucracy-laden goods.

Mary Newsom, associate editor of the Charlotte Observer, worries that America has “given up on the idea of the public.”

Today, wealthy people are getting wealthier. They buy custom suits and their assistants battle voice-mail hell. They get enviable pensions. They don’t need nice parks or public schools; their country clubs and private schools boast handsome buildings and manicured grounds.

But why have so many other people given up on the idea that the larger community – all of us – deserve sound government services and jobs you can live on? When did we stop believing we deserve pretty parks, well-kept schools, decent pay, job benefits and a pension when we retire – and that it’s OK to pay for those things, because we value them?

<snip>

More: http://firedoglake.com/2011/05/15/the-public-disappears/

:kick:

[NYC_SKP]

1. K/R (nt)

[Odin2005]

2. He who has no need for society must be either beast or god -Aristotle

This is INSANITY.

[aquart]

3. George W. Bush is the product of private schools.

Oughta make you rethink the whole damn thing.

[CBHagman]

5. And yet FDR, also from a privileged background...

...had a very different presidency and a very different approach.

Let's not take the conversation away the OP's theme: not bashing of private institutions but wholeheartedly embracing and supporting public institutions that benefit everyone.

[socialist_n_TN]

11. Well, FDR was pushed..........

He WAS from a priviledged background correct, but if the socialists and communists at the time hadn't pushed the national conversation to the HARD left, we would have gotten NONE of his capitalist "reforms". No way he would have stood up as a "traitor to his class" if he hadn't been pushed.

The reason they're being taken away NOW is because there's no HARD left that's getting any attention. The "left" of today is a relativistic term that encompasses people who, in the 30s, would have been considered arch conservatives. The PTB only make concessions when they're scared. They're not scared nowdays.

[coalition_unwilling]

21. It's an interesting question you pose about FDR's own leanings and

whether he was 'pushed' to save capitalism from itself by Socialist and Communist pressure or whether he wanted to be pushed by the Left to do what needed to be done. (I've seen arguments on both sides of this divide.)

The thing I will always like about FDR is that, because he was a victim of polio, he developed and displayed a strong sense of empathy for people who suffered from things beyond their control like the collapse of capitalism in the late 20s and early 30s. That may be romanticizing FDR a bit, I know, but no one forced FDR to conduct his 'fireside chats.'

[socialist_n_TN]

22. Oh i'm not saying that he WASN'T a traitor to his class

I think that he basically believed in SOME of the progressive policies that he instituted. But he went a LOT further than he would have had he NOT been pushed from the left. The REAL left.

[aquart]

17. When FDR got his education...

Even poor people who went to school came out reading and thinking. What's your next example? George Washington?

[CBHagman]

19. FDR was born in an era...

...before compulsory schooling was enacted everywhere in the United States, let alone a GI Bill of Rights that sent a generation of veterans to college. We're talking about a time before a great many labor and education reforms. I wouldn't make sweeping generalizations about students today as compared to, say, those in 1900.

[Enrique]

4. what a fantastic story

and a great website I'd never heard of before:

http://onthecommons.org/about-commons-0

[Luminous Animal]

10. That is a great website!

[WillyT]

13. Thanks For That Link !!!

:yourock:

[Mr. Jefferson]

6. Public or private restrooms.

Which do you prefer?

[femrap]

8. Clean restrooms. nt

[Gabi Hayes]

9. hey! wad.....what are you going to use when you're on the road and

need a place to empty your private load?

I forgot...one of your private slaves will take care of it for you, yes?

[Enrique]

18. I used to use the Capitol building's bathroom

in Madison, WI, when my roommates were hogging our bathroom. I lived right across the street. It was an excellent bathroom.

The nastiest bathrooms I've come across have been in gas stations, which are private.

[Brickbat]

20. I'd much rather stop at one of Minnesota's rest stops than a nasty gas station, thanks.

[Davis_X_Machina]

7. Ssssh. Don't tell them....

...about the Wellesley (MA) Free Library.

Which name implies that there was also a pay library -- they used to exist, they were called 'subscription libraries' -- and lo and behold, that library seems to have vanished.

[iwishiwas]

12. These "Authorities" should be publicly tarred and feathered. what a bunch

of crap.

[LoZoccolo]

14. Fire Dog Lake: automatic unrecommend n/t

[Luminous Animal]

15. Thanks for the kick!

[Enrique]

16. that is so sad

:-(

[Odin2005]

23. Shoot the messenger much>

:puke: