Is the basic challenge for our form of democratic government to create a socioeconomic environment enabling citizen subjects to exploit opportunity - or to overcome adversity? The answer has to be both, based on self-reliance and motivation. “God helps those who help themselves.” We seem to have gravitated into a situation where a majority of Americans apparently see themselves as victims of some form of discrimination - racial heritage, income disparity, rising criminality, pervasive hunger, physical handicap, medical condition, sexual dysphoria, educational deficiency, legal persecution, geographic disadvantage, housing inadequacy, and so on. A constant barrage of commercial advertising reminds us of all the potential luxuries of life that stoke the envy of class distinction. This year’s election shows clear signs of a contest differentiating between government policy that motivates individual accomplishment and one promoting various categories of dependency. The public has a right to expect equal treatment under the law, not selective discrimination that insults basic precepts of fairness. Student- loan forgiveness, distorted taxation policy, various subsidization initiatives, politicization of judicial proceedings, and abdication of border control are prominent current examples. Aren’t we better than that? Phil Osifer