[dhs12345]

Wow. So goes human history. And rarely (maybe never) has the opportunity to become wealthy been as great as it is in the United States. It requires hard work, dedication, determination and a little luck.

And yes, I include the blacks and other minorities in the opportunities to succeed. Sadly, this great country is only temporary and there will come a time when people wish it were like it is now. Unfortunately, it will be too late to do anything.

[RobbyS]

The Pre-war United States was the only place in the world at that time where MILLIONS of people could govern themselves and take part in the creation of an economy that generated enormous amounts of wealth divided with some equity among its citizens. This was the republic which Tocqueville captured in his Democracy in America. Not “pure” by any means, but one of the few places where liberty and equality could coexist. Look at England, where a few hundred families held all the wealth. In Jane Austen books and films, we get a totally tame version of a world where a few thousand families literally lorded it over the mass of the people. The evangelical reformation of manners, which was accomplished by 1850, meant that this was a much softer tyranny that we can the Fielding’s “Tom Jones,” where white servants occupied a place only slightly higher than that of black slaves in America. But the grandees of Charleston such as Butler, shared many sympathies with the English nobles of the time.