Martin Luther King Jr. offered a powerful answer: “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” By that measure, America falls far short.
The absence of widespread public unrest does not mean we have achieved peace. Consider the millions of children whose lives are shaped by poverty, housing instability, and inadequate nutrition. The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports a shortage of 7.2 million rental homes affordable and available to extremely low-income households. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that about one in seven American households experienced food insecurity in 2024.
These hardships are more than economic statistics. When children endure prolonged adversity without adequate support, they can experience toxic stress, which can disrupt brain development and the body’s stress-response systems, increasing the risk of long-term mental and physical health problems. The consequences can follow children throughout their lives, limiting their opportunities to reach their full potential.
If peace means the presence of justice, how can we claim to have achieved it when millions of children lack the stable housing, nutritious food, and supportive conditions they need to thrive?
This is not peace.
Yet America has the resources to move closer to it. For decades, tax policy has favored the wealthy. Consider the One Big, “Beautiful” Bill Congress passed a little over a year ago, which provides trillions of dollars in tax benefits to wealthy households while cutting support for lower- and middle-income households. Imagine what we could accomplish if we directed more of our resources toward meeting basic human needs. We could build homes, rehabilitate existing housing, and help families afford rent, moving us closer to eliminating the shortage of homes available to extremely low-income households.
And we can do even more. Tax policy has favored the wealthy for decades. Let’s reverse course. Let’s demand an America where everyone—not just children—has an affordable home, enough nutritious food, and the opportunity to thrive.
Let’s work toward Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of true peace.
