Urban Renewal in Reagan's Shining City
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life . . . a tall proud city . . . teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and . . . the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. Ronald Reagan. 1989
We must be knit together, in this work, as one man . . . We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities . . . We must delight in each other . . . always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body . . . For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. John Winthrop 1630
Ronald Reagan’s reference to a shining city on a hill was inspired by John Winthrop, but the cities they envisioned were very different. Reagan’s was a place of opportunity, humming “with commerce and creativity” where any person with luck and pluck could enjoy the profits of their labors. Winthrop’s city was the creation of a band of believers pledged to not only look out for their own success but to be their brother’s keeper, to set aside their unnecessary wants to make certain everyone had necessities. Today Americans are debating what kind of “city” we want for the 21st Century.
This conflict surfaced when Governor John Sanford of South Carolina threatened to turn back the stimulus money and South Carolina’s Representative Claiborne countered that the people of their state need jobs, need help for the disabled, need new schools, and extended unemployment benefits. We see the conflict as President Obama moves to help Americans who are having trouble keeping up with their mortgages and in response a CNBC commentator cries out that Americans who are paying their mortgages don’t want to help people who are unable to meet their obligations. Then we saw this issue flushed out in a different way in an interview with Bill Clinton who was asked if he bore responsibility for our current economic crisis. He answered that he should have insisted on strict regulation for the financial instruments which bundled up pieces of thousands of mortgages. Clinton said he had been convinced by Alan Greenspan that because only sophisticated financial players would be buying these instruments, the consumer did not need to be protected, a view which overlooked how we all might be harmed by their misjudgements.
I grew up in a working class New England family during the 1950's and the “city” we lived in was more like Winthrop’s than Reagan’s. When I was 10 years old, a new family moved in down the road. This was an event in itself, because they were the first new comers in our little neighborhood since my grandfather and grandmother moved to town 50 years before. The new family had 6 children. They were from Massachusetts and they were Catholic. My town was still dominated by the church of John Winthrop, the Congregationalists, and in those days the members of that congregation were not by instinct open and welcoming to Roman Catholics.
Many in our little community would not have invited these strangers to come live among us but the new family seemed like good folks, the father had a “good job” at the American Can Company and they took good care of their children including a young daughter crippled by polio. So, they were welcomed, reluctantly by some, warmly by a few.
A year later, there were layoffs at the Can Company and the father was suddenly unemployed. Immediately my little neighborhood started a weekly collection of food and cash to help sustain our new neighbors and to the my watchful young eyes it was clear that the quality of mercy was unstrained. Food and money were gathered every weekend for several weeks. Odd jobs were found for the father. Neighbors made inquiries about new full time employment and ultimately our neighbor found a new job. Our people were not well off. This generosity required sacrifice. But in our “city” the hardships of one family did not seem remote from their own circumstances. The common experiences of World War II and the Great Depression had revived the commitment to Winthrop’s ideal of shared of communal responsibility.
Winthrop’s city was inspired by the teachings of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount where followers were told to put aside materialism and be their brother’s keeper. A commandment often referenced by President Obama. But there was practicality in Winthrop’s vision as well as theology. His people were facing a new wilderness. They had to stick together because they needed each other to be strong and healthy. That’s why they began their “city” with a common warehouse and a common pasture. As they prospered, they made room for individual advancement. They doled out private land, but every landowner had an obligation to give part of their crop to the “city” to provide for the common good.
These people would not have gotten angry when asked to share some of their grain in a time of famine? They might have complained that their neighbor needed to learn to take better care of his tools or they might have questioned how anyone could make a go of it on such poor land, but they would have thanked God they were in a position to help instead of needing to be helped.
It’s a long way from Winthrop’s city on the hill to Reagan’s where we have lived for the last 30 years. But hard times bring us back to fundamentals. When the bank forecloses on houses on our street, the value of our house suffers. When the unregulated masters of Wall Street lose trillions of dollars, Americans who had nothing to do with their schemes find themselves without jobs and at risk of losing their homes.
In our 21st century city, we need the open doors of commerce and opportunity envisioned by President Reagan. An America where a young Dutch Reagan can reach his full potential and not be held back because his dad was viewed as the town drunk. But America must also relearn the oldest lessons that begin with the knowledge that we are all standing on the shoulders of others. We must build our city on the knowledge that there is no greater gift than to be able to help others. Government is an imperfect instrument to do that work. I’m sure there were problems with our ancestor’s common warehouse. But our government is is our nation’s instrument. We are the citizens in this city and it is our responsibility to make it a place where opportunity is open to all, but where we all appreciate that success is linked to the fate oour neighbors.