There are always those super-patriots who think of America only in terms of one religion, one morality and the sanctity of profit – loss being akin to being a failure when it is all about success and popularity. Everyone can be a billionaire.

My vision is somewhat different.  I work hard and I see others struggling who work even harder and there are those who do not work at all for all their wants and needs are taken care of by having a rich ancestor who set the stage for a class society where having money means having class.  I think work ennobles, but that is just me.  What I am driving at is the acknowledgement that entitlement because of wealth and social position goes against the grain of what America is about.  We have always been a nation of immigrants and we come from people who make their own luck.  But, there are always those who cannot compete but they live here as your neighbor and mine needing your help and mine to get by.

I to not want to make distinctions about those who live and work at the bottom of the social and economic scale but they are always there and their existence should resonate within the soul of those who were luckier and who are fixed for life.  Compensation through government was always part of the answer if you can get by the inconsistencies between the Declaration of Independence and the Prologue to the Constitution.  One is about the “pursuit of happiness” while the other is about “life, liberty and PROPERTY” = private ownership vs. public good.

My thesis today is that we had it at one time but lost it since then.  What we had was the concept (call it Socialism or Communism) of taking care of our brothers and sisters not as lucky as we had become.  The declaration was that we should take care of our brothers and sisters – just because they lived here among us – and offer them equal protection of the laws and supply to those who worked – cradle to grave guarantees of Government support so that no one would go hungry, without shelter and need not be afraid of work that did not cover needs.  Wants, of course, are a different thing.  We need basic things and want frills. The carrot dangles over our heads while we pull a wagon – with the few snapping a whip to move us faster.

You can envision, if you like, the vast majority of workers and those in need who are carrying on their backs the few very lucky ones who paid their travel fare with money they did not earn.  There is something very wrong with this picture and forgive me for thinking in economic democratic terms rather than political democracy. The latter favors those who can pay the most to persuade you to vote for them. I would like Mytopia to be Yourtopia too.  Both should be Ourtopia - a good place. Work does ennoble.  We should pay what we can for our needs and wants. If we get in trouble, what is government for, anyway?