The "City on a Hill" is a Gated Fortress

Over time,  that "City on a Hill"  seems to have endured a whole slew of incarnations  ---  with one constant:   its portrayal as an ideal,  a pinnacle of triumph.   Its earliest known reference appears to  have been a biblical citation (Matthew 5:14).  

Centuries later,  a Puritan, John Winthrop,  cited the embryonic city of Boston as "a city on the hill being watched by the world":   perhaps the earliest reference to American exceptionalism.   Nor did its use as a metaphor escape "The Great Communicator",  Ronald Reagan back in the '80s.

Since then,  that "City on a Hill",  has become a place most of us can only dream about.   As  the late,  lamented comic genius George Carlin used to say,  "Why do they call it the American dream?   Because you have to be asleep to believe it!" 

Speaking of the '80s,   here's how  income gains have been distributed nationwide since then.   Specifically,  between 1979 and 2007,   gross income for the lowest 20% of households has increased by 16%:  not nearly enough to keep pace with mounting everyday expenses.  On the other hand,  the top 1% has reveled in a 281%  income jump.

Just as a basis for comparison,  here's the way it pans out:

       -Lowest 20% (of households):    16%
       -Middle 20%                          :     25%
       -Top     20%                          :     95%
       -Top    1%(within that top 20%): 281%!

(Source:  Congressional Budget Office)

Yet the Republicans in Congress stubbornly refuse to consider raising taxes on that priveleged 1%,  with no concern for the consequences:  the likelihood that millions of people,  right here in the United States of America could well be condemned to lives of despair, hopelessness, and even premature death as  vital programs get scuttled.

It's looking as if that "City on a Hill" is now the exclusive property of  our nation's  paymasters.   Believe me,  I'd like to be proven wrong.   In any event,  we need to keep trying to facilitate change,  even if  like Don Quixote,  we're just tilting at windmills.

In the meantime,  that  "City on the Hill"  has been locked and latched!