While there's plenty to criticize about the founding of the US, eg the northern colonies having to compromise with the southern colonies on slavery, the reality is that expanding voting power to all white land-owning men was a pretty revolutionary concept at the time, where prior to that, power in European culture almost universally derived from birthright. The US Constitution also set us on a course where voting power has continually been expanded and now encompasses all US citizens.
Unfortunately, forces are trying to consolidate power for a small group again, and our system of voting has been continually undermined for about 40 years through the rolling back of voting rights and severe gerrymandering, to where the general public is losing power over our government.
These are corporate bonds, rather than stocks. They will pay out a fixed amount over a given period of time. One might assume this is a down payment for silence