[randolph]

Back to the social contract.
In a sense, Ila has a point. We no longer have a valid social contract with our government. The upper class has hijacked the social contract. It is now between them and the government. The rest of us are out in the cold.
Until recently we assumed we had a classless society (in the traditional sense) based on constitutional rights. There have always been rich and poor but there was a feeling that anybody could rise to the top. In other countries, especially England class distinctions were and still are very apparent.
Reagan's policies that persist until today set the stage for the wealthy to become a class (upper) and take control of the social contract. This has enabled them to carefully control government policies to protect and enhance their well being. All of the statistics support a massive shift of wealth from the middle class to the upper class. However, it is more than wealth that has shifted, it is also power. Power to run the economy, power to set foreign policy, power to set priorities.
As Karl Marx said there has always been a struggle between classes. The rich want to protect their wealth and the poor want redress of their grievances. Our Constitution was supposed to deal with these issues. It appears that it is no longer functional.