THERE WAS A TIME, in america, when there were relatively few wealthy people, and relatively few poor people. That time was during the nineteenth century, up until the great corporate expansion and takeover of post eighteen eighty.
Capitalism has always been accepted and respected in america, but there was a time when it was much more closely tied in with morality, philosophy, politics, and religion, than it is now. In other words, the free market capitalistic economic religion, now so adored by conservatives, was once upon a time viewed by the christian american people in context with christian values, which it probably should be now, but most definitely isn't.
The average middle nineteenth century pre civil war american believed that all workers should by paid fairly for their labor, (equal , or nearly equal, to tehe value of it), and not exploited. The average mid nineteenth century american was positively a radical socialist, compared to now.
The egalitarian spirit of the frontier has given way to the hierarchical paradigm of wealth, power, and fame we so cherish today, to our great cost. America was always intended to be a place where everyone had an equal chance, not an equal outcome.
People, and there are many, who overcome horrible childhood conditions to achieve greatness, tend to greatly overestimate the ability of most people to do the same. "If I can do it, anybody can do it", is not always an accurate assessment.
Competition should have its place in human culture, but not a dominant place, as it has now. America is a more angry, aggressive, greedy place than it has ever been before...
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