What does a study of history tell us about wealth and power?(2)

To study history reveals that most people suffered grievously for centuries from the ambitions of the powerful and privileged. History gives us no reason to believe that the wealthy and powerful care about the non-wealthy and less powerful. They live in totally different worlds, roughly, the upper class and the underclass. They meet only as people of the underclass serve the upperclass, as slaves and servants, as fodder for wars of glory, as workers to run the world for the wealthy. Such is most of history.

(Vocabulary issue: what words should be used? The Haves and the Have-nots? The Upperclass and the Underclass? The Rich and the Poor? The Takers and the Givers? The 1% and the 99%? The Oppressors and the Oppressed? The Privileged and the not-Privileged? The Wealthy and the not-Wealthy? The Powerful and the not-Powerful?)

The United States offers an exception to this history. It was created by many Have-nots, people from the underclass who risked all to leave hopelessness behind and begin again. Then, when time came to formalize a structure for society, the intent was that everyone should have the same opportunities.

This level playing field is essential because it makes possible the existence of a strong and vibrant middle class--neither wealthy nor poor. It means that the ambitions, the talents, the education of all the people can be released, to serve those individuals, to serve the community, and the nation. This came about in the United States. Not perfectly, but better than in any known society up to its creation.

This was amazing! Such a government had not been seen before. That it actually came into being awakened the admiration and the hopes of the oppressed everywhere. For a time, the vision made concrete in the American Constitution served well.