That the U.S. has the standard of living that is does is not a **privilege** that was granted to us by some fairy godmother.
We **earned** it, and we **worked** for it.
We start by being a basically **HONEST** people. A people that are honest enough and moral enough that our neighbors can trust to make contracts and loans. We trust that our courts and police will be honest in the enforcement of those contracts.
Scratch a country that is poor and disarray and you will soon find a dishonest and immoral heart beating in its chest.
Sorry but such a country you are describing is controlled by the heartless, greedy and power hungry elitists. The heartbeat of the country is in the people that they control.............
“We **earned** it, and we **worked** for it.”
No, we didn't.
Those who came before us earned it and worked for it, starting even before the Revolution.
We live off their sweat and efforts. We enjoy the fruits of their labor. This is the social capital of our society that has been built up over the centuries.
Our duty is to continue this project, to do what is right and decent and honest to maintain the culture of trust that permits economic flourishing.
But I look around and honestly, I don't think that the folks who comprise our society today are doing a good job of that. Although many of us as individuals try to keep faith with the generations that have preceded us, to me it appears that we're spending our social capital faster than we're replenishing it.
I hope that something happens to turn it around.
sitetest