AN ALL-PURPOSE PROGRESSIVE STEMWINDER?

 This is planned to be an all-purpose speech for our side. I'm not sure how long it will be but I'll do my best to keep it from being a stemwinder, that is, a speech that lasts too long.
Ronald Reagan once said, he wanted an America where anyone could get rich. Anyone?
What do all of you think of that? I want an America where anyone, including minimum wage workers, can earn a decent living.Where everyone can have enough nutritious and good-tasting food, a decent roof over their heads which can have a controlled temperature, be dressed decently, can actually retire and not have the threat of ruin hanging over our heads in the event of serious illness.
Which America do you think is closer to the Founders' vision? Let me give you a quote or two from those Founders which I hope will help:
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of moneyed corporations, which....bid defiance already to the laws of this country."
And again:
"All the property that is necessary to the Preservation of the [Person] and the propagation of the Species is [a person's] natural right which none can deprive [them] of, but property superfluous to that Purpose is by right the property of the Public who by their laws have created it and, whenever the Public may so desire, may otherwise dispose of it."
Pretty revolutionary, no? What this Founder says is, we all have a right to as much resources as we need to maintain ourselves without unnecessary discomfort and to bring up (and educate?) a family in at least modest comfort, but more than that is by right the property of the public, that is, you, me and all of us!
I don't know about you, but it looks to me as if our Founders were not too keen on a country where  anyone could get rich by almost any legal, but mostly unethical, means. Which, I suggest to you, is what Ronnie and his puppet-masters wanted.
Again, I don't know about you but I have no desire to be a 21st century planter with thousands of effective slaves, although we don't call them that nowadays. But that is a legal fiction; all of the 78% of us who live from paycheck to paycheck know we can't afford to be without our jobs!
No, it would be enough for me to have a somewhat larger house with a fenced-in yard for our doggies and not have to pinch every penny till it screams. As a cook, I confess I would really love a large kitchen so I could make anything I wanted. I have no desire to 'live large' and I tend to dislike those to whom such a thing is important, but not because of jealousy. It is because those that do want that seem to believe they have some sort of divine mandate to rule the rest of us in the worst medieval style imaginable!
The great Lord Acton once said and/or wrote: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." In addition to the means of exchange, is wealth anything but power? And when you look at Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, the Koch family, the Prince/DeVos families, Wayne LaPierre, do you see anything in them that makes them fit to rule the rest of us? Or are they all absolutely corrupted by the power we the people have allowed them to stealthily seize, including their ability to own the 'Republican' party and all its representatives at nearly all levels? And make such inroads into the Democratic party as well?
It also looks as though the Gateses and uncle Warren (Buffett) at least make some efforts against being so corrupted themselves, but that might need further investigation.
I have nothing against there being those who are wealthier than the rest of us, but as Justice Brandeis wrote, "We can either have a few fabulously wealthy people, or we can have democracy, but we cannot have both." I agree. What about y'all?
If we tax correctly, the rich will still be rich. Just not rich enough to buy our government and all of us into the bargain! And when we all do better, well, we all do better. Even the rich do better in strictly numerical terms; they're just not as high above the rest of us as many want to be. Trump is their natural leader; most of them are greedy bullies dangerously close to absolutely corrupt!
And another benefit of taking away the 'super' from 'superrich': as they'll have less power, they'll be less corrupted! Think of it, fellow citizens! We may be saving their souls by taxing them properly, pulling them back from the mouth of the Pit where they currently saunter, foolishly believing themselves immune! Can I have some 'amens' from the crowd?
If you want a country closer to the Founders' hopes than those of a boughten Grade B washed-up ham, vote Democratic at all levels this November! Vote as progressively as you can while looking out for bad
actors (that is, haters of Israel and Jews) trying to use progressive causes as a stalking-horse.
Let's renew our country as a good place for all of us as we save the souls of the Pit-hung rich as well!
Oh well: I hope this reads well enough so that it doesn't feel like a stemwinder, at least!
The two quotations are, respectively, from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1814 and one written by Dr. Benjamin Franklin to Robert Morris on December 25, 1783.

A VERY NECESSARY DISTINCTION

 Trump does not say to his cultists, 'Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven'. He says, 'Don't be ashamed; your 'sins' are not sins. You can be as bigoted as you please and still be Good People'. That is a lie!
When Jesus said the first to the poor and the outcasts, I guess we're given to understand that being forgiven was supposed to give them strength and inspiration to mend their ways and leave their sins. Am I right? If I'm mistaken, please say so and tell me why.
At least, it seems I sort of assume that, although it could also be said that Jesus was telling his hearers that God knew what they were up against and how they were pressed into their sinful lives.
But tell me: What are bigots who seem to delight in trampling on others who have darker hair, eyes, skin, or whose faiths are expressed differently (aside from Christian Nationalists/Islamists) or have different sexual preferences and all of whom must bear the legacy of generations of such racism/sexism/etc against those more privileged--well, what, literally, in God's Name are these b*****ds up against? Having to share their wealth and power with others?
If this is a necessary component of democracy (and I believe it it) no wonder these lucky b*****ds are souring on it!
What Trump gives them is not the freedom to turn from their sins but the false assurance that they are not sinners! Oh, no! They are the best and most beautiful blue-eyed volks that ever was--such Good People, better than Jesus who 1)was probably dark-haired, eyed and skinned and 2) asked a rich young ruler "Why do you call me 'good'? There is none good save God."
It is important, I think, for those of us who make serious efforts to follow Jesus's teachings to distinguish between the two: Jesus's Good News and Trump's...well, his trumperies. Meaning his lies and deceits!
And no, I'm definitely not saying that everyone with light hair, eyes or skin are biped devils. But I do believe, by attaching undue importance to those articles--such as allowing them to determine who gets what, when and how--we can either lose a large chunk of our humanity or, if we go far enough, forfeit it entirely. I believe Hamas has gone that far and our neo-Nazis are right there with 'em!
We need to act on this as best we can as we work and vote to put Trump and his cult not six, but twelve, feet under with a stake through the space where a heart should be but isn't.