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Over these recent past years and decades, Americans have become more divided as far too many, not all, wealthy and powerful individuals and corporations seek to extract even more power and wealth from our economy, many times with the aid of powerful, self-serving politicians. Do not get me wrong, or call me a Communist, I am not opposed to hard working, honest people, accumulating lots of stuff, by virtue of hard work or vision; I am opposed to those who do so through deceit, deception or illegal activities. Taking stuff from hard-working and poor Americans to enrich themselves through any one of those means, if not illegal, is certainly immoral.

In the interest of brevity, it is time to move on. I leave it to those who may read this missive to decide the legitimacy of my views, as stated, and the vision I now present.

We, those of us who seek to heal the wounds inflicted on one another and on our society in general ,have to do our part our part in the birthing of a more fair and equitable America. This will require the cooperation of millions of Americans, weak and powerful, corporations and governments at every level, from local on up to our federal government institutions.

In my view, and that of many others, the growing income gap between the poor and the rich is the root cause of the three basic human needs that far too many Americans can no longer afford: shelter, food security and adequate physical and mental health care. Far too many Americans are forced to trade one for the other, some have access to none. As a result, we grow further and further apart, angrier and looking for ways to inflict pain and misery on our perceived enemies.

America was once a land of opportunity, with people, citizens and immigrants alike, seeking ways to take advantage of those opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families. Now, it seems, there are far too many powerful people looking for opportunities to extract even more power and wealth from our economy, without regard for the damage being wrought on other Americans, our institutions and our society.

Given the state of current relationships between the haves and the haves not, and our current governing institutions, we are not going to tax our way out of these dilemmas; it will take reflection and resolve, across the divide, by everyone that is willing to do their part, or at lease not stand in the way, of those who seek to bridge the divide.

As recently reported in the Wall Street Journal and other financial publications, America’s billionaires’ wealth now approaches $7 trillion. More money than they and their heirs could possibly need or spend. If they would be willing to invest, not give, say, 5% of that wealth in a Renew America Fund, we would have all the money needed, if properly managed, to shelter the poor and homeless, provide food security and adequate physical and mental health care to all Americans. Think about all the economic activity that would generate, the jobs it would create and the returns to all Americans, rich and poor.

Call me crazy, but I believe, with their help, and with the help of governments at all levels, helping when and where they can and getting out of the way when they cannot, we have the resources to do this. The only question is, do we have the will and the resolve?