A letter from Illinois - Part 1

Hi. I've been 'holding my tongue' for awhile. I've voted. But the battle is not over. Today I received an email forwarded from a friend. My friend suggests that this email asks questions "...that many of us would if we wanted to make our position public...". I replied, asking my friend if he wanted answers - I haven't heard back yet. But I'm going to tackle it anyway, just because. I'll do it in parts, first quoting the 'letter', then supplying my reaction. Here goes part 1.

From the letter:
My name is Joe Porter. I live in Champaign , Illinois . I'm 46 years old, a born-again Christian, a husband, a father, a small business owner, a veteran, and a homeowner. I don't consider myself to be either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person, not Republican or Democrat. I don't believe there are 'two Americas ' - but that every person in this country can be whomever and what ever they want to be if they'll just work to get there - and nowhere else on earth can they find such opportunities. I believe our government should help those who are legitimately downtrodden, and should always put the interests of America first.

From me:
Hi Joe. This is a fine statement of who you are and what you believe. I'll refer back to it in future parts of this response. I like everything I see here. My bio is somewhat different in spots, but you sound like a person I can talk with and I think we can find points of agreement in many areas. Let's see.
I live in Scottsdale, Arizona. I'm 67 years old, not affiliated with any religion, a husband, a father, a retired engineer, a veteran, and a homeowner. I'm sure I am considered a liberal, but I am neither Republican or Democrat. When I vote I consider the person first, but I cannot ignore the organization being represented.
I don't know exactly what the 'two Americas' concept is. I believe America is multi-faceted, and that in many cases that is a good thing but there are cases where it is not a good thing. More on that later.
America is a country of fantastic opportunity - possibly more so than any other country. You and I both want it to be true that "...every person in this country can be whomever and what ever they want to be if they'll just work to get there...". I believed that for a long time, because it was my personal experience, and obviously yours as well. We have done a fine job of taking responsibility for our own lives and our families. We've probably helped others as well - I know I've tried. In my opinion the 'land of opportunity' has been opened up to more and more people over my lifetime, and that's a very good thing. But again, in my opinion, we're not done yet by any means. I want opportunity available for every person, I believe that this is one of the ultimate goals of this country, and I support any and all attempts to make it so.
I wish you had left 'legitimately' out of the last sentence, and I find it strange that you combine 'helping the downtrodden' and 'interests of America first' into one sentence. If you could explain this sentence it would help, but since it's a good bet that we'll never actually meet, I'll do my best with it as it is. There are two thoughts here, I think, and both are so correct as to defy rebuttal. I mean, who would argue that our government should NOT always put the interests of America first? Who would argue that our government should not help the downtrodden? Certainly not me. How these are related I'm not sure, and I won't speculate, but I certainly agree with each thought.
Now, about that concept of 'two Americas'. What does that mean? There are certainly many ways to interpret this - white/other, rich/poor, Republican/Democrat, straight/gay, religious/not, rural/metro - and on and on. In this paragraph and the next you seem to concentrate on responsible people versus those seeking handouts or illegitimately downtrodden. Are these the two Americas you don't believe exist? I'm confused, as usual, but perhaps it will all become clear as I continue through your letter.