Book 2 Post 2

A Stake in Our System

One of the most important points Chuck Collins makes in Born on Third Base comes when he shows the ways in which those with wealth and privilege can escape the inconveniences and struggles that plague ordinary citizens. An anecdote he tells about himself and his daughter at the community pool makes this clear.

One Saturday morning, he and his daughter went to the community pool after adult swim in the morning, showered in the half-clean, half-swampy locker rooms, and stepped out onto the pool deck only to be told that the pool was closed for the rest of the day. 

The rest of a Saturday in the middle of summer.

A lifeguard on his way out told them this was because there were no other lifeguards available to be on duty the rest of the day. After seeing not only his daughter, but other parents and their childrens’ dismay at this, Collins became upset. He considered renewing his country club membership to ensure his daughter was able to go swimming when she wanted to, but then came to an important realization: it wasn’t that simple for the other families there. 

Country club memberships are expensive. 

I found it admirable that instead of taking the easy way out– the “private solution,” as some would call it– Collins purposefully denied his daughter that privilege in order to give himself a stake in the public system. He put himself in the shoes of the vast majority of families in his neighborhood, who experience the failings of the public system as real deficiencies in their own lives. And, because of this, he felt an anxious compulsion to improve the public system.

He used his privilege and influence to gain the ear of officials at City Hall and tell them about the lack of lifeguards at the community pools on weekends. While it took a lot more time and energy than renewing a country club membership, he began to understand that the reason so many things fail to get done in the public system is precisely because it takes so much time and effort. 

Parents of working-class families often work multiple jobs, maintain their homes, and raise their children all on their own. This leaves them with little time left over to make unanswered calls to City Hall, let alone drive down there themselves during the workweek. 

I found this particularly impactful as a tangible solution for those with wealth and privilege to effect real change in their communities. By giving themselves a stake in the public system– a real negative consequence for you or someone you love should the public system fail its community– the top 1% can rid themselves of the narcotic ignorance that wealth bestows on them. 

It can be as simple as bringing your kids to public parks to play instead of gated communities, or as consequential as sending them to public schools and universities instead of the “safer” but less egalitarian option of private schools. Either way, I appreciated this perspective as a more practical way for the wealthier in society to use their privilege for the advancement of community initiatives. More practical, and more impactful too, than dumping money into the charity that their tax guy tells them will give them the largest write-off.