In the article “Democracy and prosperity” (Shield & Search, July 2026, volume VII, p.1) Marion Hill explains how extreme inequality in wealth leads to political instability. Yes, excessive wealth concentrated in the hands of the few has historically led to pollical breakdowns.
Hill’s article led me to think about how our social and legal inequalities propel the top-heavy concentration of wealth that threatens to destabilize our democracy.
The social and legal inequalities leading to our current peak of wealth inequality have long plagued our nation, and they go hand in hand with sexism and racism.
America has a social caste system based on race, gender, and class, especially if we equate class with wealth. Equating class with wealth is justified in America because intellectual and aesthetic qualities do not determine one’s class. Money is what matters.
Social inequalities arise from widely held, persistent beliefs that men are “more equal” than women, that white people are “more equal” than colored people, and that cisgender (straight) is the only acceptable gender expression.
Of course, it is unfair to value men over women. Of course, it is unfair to value white men over the wide range of all other colors. My homies may chant, “All lives matter!”
Well, of course. But “Black lives matter” is the urgent and important message, because Black lives have been devalued for so long.
The current administration is firing high-ranking women and Black men in all branches of government, without cause. As added insult, Pete Hegseth recently removed the names of women and Black men from the Pentagon’s promotion list (https://www.npr.org/2026/03/27/ nx-s1-5763863/hegseth-soldierspromotions.)
Historically, women and Black men have been able to create a more level playing field in the military than in many areas of society because outstanding talent and merit were recognized. When merit no longer matters to those who control the government and the military, they expose us all to unnecessary risk. Leaders topple when they value blind loyalty over expertise.
Social inequality also falls heavily on the LGBTQIA community. It is ridiculous to blame a tiny per- centage of people for the nation’s problems. In 2023, only 1.8% of U.S. adults identified as LGBTQ+ (https://worldmetrics.org/queerstatistics/.)
Variations in sexuality are natural; they occur throughout nature, including humans. Evidence abounds throughout animal species. Such variations occur among all living things that reproduce sexually. This should be celebrated as a feature of life on Earth. Nature will always favor diversity and flexibility.
Legal inequalities proliferate alongside social inequities. It is unjust for the legal system to rob women of the right to make private life choices. In America, the Supreme Court reinstated second-class citizenship for women with its 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Now, a woman no longer owns her own body, even during the first trimester of pregnancy as Roe allowed. This court threw out a constitutional right that had been law for half a century. The newest conservative judges lied to their appointment committees when they said they would uphold previous court rulings.
Recent Supreme Court rulings that institutionalize inequality include decisions to gut voting rights legislation—states now have a freer hand to redraw boundaries of voting districts at all levels of government— and to do away with actions to ensure qualified minority applicants get considered. Last year the Department of “Justice” halted all new civil rights cases or investigations (civilrights. org/trump-rollbacks/.)
The Supreme Court decision that created the greatest inequality between the people and special interests was the 2010 Citizens United ruling that allows corporations and billionaires to spend unlimited money on elections. This, in practice, amounts to legalized bribery of politicians and drowns the voice of the average voter (https://www.brennancenter. org/our-work/researchreports/ citizens-united-explained.)
America’s social, legal, and tax systems are geared to favor the rich over the rest of us. It is no wonder that wealth inequality is more outrageous now than it was even in the age of the robber barons. We ordinary citizens are in peril of losing any say in our own fate.
Our dangerously top-heavy democracy is now teetering. We must all vote this year while we still can. We silence our own voices when we do not.
My fellow citizens, please investigate the candidates. Do not just automatically vote a straight ticket. Vote for those who don’t always favor the rich.
Consider, somewhat powerless as they are in the minority, every Democrat in Congress voted against the Big “Beautiful” Bill, with its tax cuts for the rich and steep cuts to basic human services for the rest of us. That bill passed anyway: all but two Senate Republicans voted for it, and its cuts will go into effect after the November election.
Before you vote, know which candidates voted for billionaires over you.