Advancing

 ROBERT  HEINLEIN famously said that the indication of an advanced, civilized country was the level of courtesy on the street, and the cleanliness of public restrooms. An even better measure might arguably the distribution of economic and financial power. Extremely concentrated political and economic power tends to stifle culture, whereas widely distributed power encouraged greater citizen participation and creativity. This is the thesis of an excellent work "Economics Unmasked" by Philip B. Smith and Manfred Max-Neef, who assert that the entire field of modern economics arose as a means of justifying the status quo, the possession of most forms of power by an elite ruling class. Their intent is to redefine the purpose of economics, to replace power and greed with compassion and the common good, and in this they nobly succeed. Also, of  course, the quality of care for the sick, the level of respect for the elderly, the treatment of disabled people, and the nurturing and protection of children, are factors which determine whither a culture is truly "civilized". In a society in which a few extremely wealthy people have most of the wealth and power, and their is widespread poverty and powerlessness,  the creative potential of millions of people is imprisoned by lack of access to outlets of expression, resources, opportunity. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Louis Brandies (1926-1941) famously said that you can have democracy and you can have great economic inequality, but not both at the same time. Politics and economics cannot be separated. The more power one has, the more money, and the more money, the more power. He who lacks one always lacks both. In order to create, establish, and maintain a healthy, functioning democracy, there must be greater economic equality. It is obvious that as of 2020 the United States, economically and politically was in rave danger,  because a great deal of wealth, more than half the national wealth, is owned and controlled by less than one percent of the population, and a similarly tiny percent of the population has nearly all the political power as well. One of America's major political parties has grown so desperate that it is actively engaged in subverting American democracy, by legislation, and other methods, including spreading huge election fraud lies, and violent insurrection. The economic system under which we live in the United States forces the great majority of mankind to live their lives in desperate poverty. European and American colonialism was designed to enrich big corporations, and it succeeded by plundering the resources of smaller, weaker countries, ruining the economy, plunging victim countries into seemingly eternal poverty. Even worse, the American corporate capitalistic economic system threatens to destroy the ecosystem, and all life on Earth. Arguably, it has already largely achieved that goal, so advanced is the death spiral of human made climate change. The addiction to profit is destroying Earth's ecosystems. Unregulated capitalism is a religion, a destructive, harmful one. The masses, the majority of non wealthy people of the world must have a say in how their world is made and maintained, and the only way to do that is through politics, democracy, and government.