Putting aside for the moment that, at the founding of our country neither African-Americans, Native Americans, women nor non-landed white folks possessed political or economic power, our democracy sprouted from a lofty notion: One person's vote was equal in value to anyone else's. The idea's economic corollary was that any person could succeed if given an equal opportunity.

Both ideas still animate many aspects of our daily lives. Desperately, we cleave to the notion that ours is the most egalitarian, democratic society on Earth. What choice do we have? Facing reality bites, but face it we must for democracy to survive.