The greatest redistribution of wealth in human history has taken place in the last 28 years — accelerating in the last eight — to the point where most of the wealth of this nation is in the hands of a tiny minority.

The logical result is that there is a perennial inadequate funding for K-12 public education, for infrastructure and for other vital services.

The Reagan administration launched wholesale business deregulation, busted unions and trashed anti-trust laws. In the waning weeks of the Clinton administration the Glass-Steagall Act was dissolved. This act forbade financial institutions from combining banking, investment and insurance into single, huge conglomerates.

The way was open then for the Bush II administration to enable unprecedented greed.

Now, we, and the world are reaping the economic whirlwinds.

I hear the cries, “no new taxes,” “smaller government,” “socialism.” But the issue is fair taxation.

Government has to be strong enough and incorruptible enough to enforce strict regulations on business excesses. Ironically, the bailout of the fat cats by the masses seems to have resulted in the partial nationalization of our finance system. What is more socialist than that?

Social Security — socialistic certainly, but one of the most secure investments for all of us ever devised, despite raids on its integrity. Medicare and Medicaid — definitely socialized medicine, but how can we do without them? They can remain solvent if we wrest them away from Big Pharma, insurance companies, et al.

Our foreign entanglements ad problems are as intractable and perhaps more dire than our domestic ones. Afghanistan, to mention only one, could evolve into another Vietnam-like quagmire if we’re not careful.

The new administration has its job cut out for it; so do we.