[hilbert42]

Tragically, I agree with you and I wish it weren't so.

I would only add that democracies seem to be at their most stable when inequality is at a minimum and everyone is treated with decency, fairness and respect.

It seems to me that since the early 1980s we've veered from this course and we need to correct it. We need review and renew our ethics along those lines and to do so we need trust and honesty from everyone especially bureaucrats and politicians. What I'm afraid of is that we've not the collective will to do so.