In letters to the editor, essays, speeches, reviews, and other clippings, Goodman addresses the general public on a range of civic problems, both to influence their thinking and to model the type of alert and intervening citizen he believes is necessary for societal change.

His proposals span from urban renewal to school administration, with a particular focus on education and youth, and reflect his community anarchist position in wanting to spur individual initiative, oppose supreme power, and experiment with social alternatives.

The Society I Live in Is Mine is a collection of social commentary ephemera by Paul Goodman, including letters to the editor, essays, and speeches both published and unpublished in newspapers and magazines.

[7] His public letters tend towards larger societal problems: to a university on advertising, to the New York State Commissioner of Education on good teachers blamed for the bad decisions of administrators, and to the United Nations Secretary General on citizen demonstrations.

[6] Goodman's general position is that of a "community anarchist": He believes in reducing supreme power (sovereignty), increasing individual initiative, and experimenting in topics such as education and disarmament.

[4] Though he writes mostly from a liberal perspective, Goodman makes some arch-conservative points in the name of diminishing sovereignty,[6] notably his position against nation-states and for "personal liberty and local initiative".

[2] As one reviewer put it, the collection's only unifying theme is "the mind of Paul Goodman", reflecting his positions as an anarchist and pacifist, and his advocacy for sexual freedom, libertarian education, and face-to-face communication in small communities.

[5] He argues against school standardization as a path to student achievement and believes that American society will become wiser and more capable of distributing authority to explore personal initiative and make mistakes.

[5] Raymond Price Jr. and August Derleth were heartened by Goodman’s articulate opinions, approach to civics as a “right and responsibility” to act in one’s own society,[2] and willingness to take part in the affairs of others.

[6] Critics differed on whether Goodman’s chiding approach was benevolent: While Nat Hentoff found this technique stimulating,[16] it appeared to The San Francisco Examiner as crankiness[5] and to Price as intellectual vanity.

[2] Price called the book an "exercise in ego fulfillment" in which Goodman postures extravagantly, dismisses his detractors, and stifles debate, wearing down the reader.