I have to say that your question (and our subsequent offline conversation) has given me a whole new appreciation of this book. It sent me scrambling on the web to find out what Aristole, Plato, etc. meant by “community of equals.”

Although there is no reference in Hill’s book to earlier philosophical considerations of this idea, I think it’s safe to say the idea is ingrained in our ideal of America, and it has been expanded in our time beyond the ideas of the Greek philosophers, who probably meant “community” for certain individuals who were supported by a working “class” who could not share in that community.

For Hill, Home is “a place that provides access to every opportunity America has to offer.”

She is using the current housing crisis to comment on the concept of home beyond the four walls that so many people have lost or are losing in the housing bubble and recession.

While the dream of home ownership has been harder for women and minorities, Hill believes the current crisis is making it so bad, that it “threatens our country’s belief in its promises of fairness and prosperity for generations to come.”

“At the heart of the crisis,” she writes, “is the ideological disconnect between home as a basic element of the Amercan Dream and pathway to equality, and home as a market product.” This is not new, she notes, but perhaps it is becoming increasingly evident.

I think, ultimately, Hill’s book is a call for dialogue on this idea, and she lists questions at the end of the book that can start us on this exploration.

I hope this helps answer your question. I must say, if we had talked about this earlier, I probably would have put up a much better review of the book.

Thanks!