This interest may have come from the fact that I was born on the day of the 1929 market crash. It more likely grew out of my family's experience on the farm during the serious economic depression which followed. The policy goals of the United States of America have long been to assure everyone the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to achieve these goals, it has been generally agreed that every person should be guaranteed access to a good education, reasonable transportation, unfettered communication, equal justice and personal security regardless of where they live. As a consequence, public funding provides schools in the most remote rural hamlets.
Governments build and maintain roads to the smallest mountain villages and prairie towns.
The U.S. postal system provides subsidized mail service to farmsteads throughout the nation. Police protection and systems of justice are widespread. These public investments play a major role in generating the high living standard enjoyed by most Americans. In more recent years, national policy objectives have widened to include a clean environment, economic opportunity for all, cultural accessibility, adequate health care, basic housing and an income safety net. It is thought that these conditions should be guaranteed residents of rural and urban areas as well.