We Are An Aristocracy Now

I agree with you Mama Kelly. And not all that long ago "Corporate Responsibility" was more than a buzzword. But a lot of people who have clawed their way to the top don't see it that way anymore. Their only responsibility is to look out for themselves. They see it as natural selection that the cream rises to the top and the dregs sinks.

I can't blame them for seeking vaccine - I blame a system where they get it ahead of public health facilities or private outlets that are open to everyone. As it is, vaccines are scarce AND if you work for Goldman Sachs or some other parasite, so long as it is big enough you get a preferential place in line.

I got my regular (not H1N1) flu shot at Safeway. That's a private outlet and that is no problem because it is open to the public in general. Safeway getting it only for their employees is a no-no UNLESS there is plenty to go around - then OK by me.

The definition of aristocracy by many of our founders - and with which I agree - was not so much that someone was Lord or Lady This'nthat, but that they received legal privileges denied other people simply because of their preferred status. By that definition, Goldman Sachs has a modern day group of aristocrats at the top, who are a running assault on the best principles underlying this nation.

And that's assuming that they only give it to Goldman Sachs employees who qualify as at high risk. Given Goldman Sachs' record of deceitful business practices costing its customers millions or billions, I cannot see any reason to believe a word they say. On anything, unless it can be independently proven.

I'm not going to get into the slavery issue here - that's a red herring. Not all were slaveholders and soon after the revolution a majority of states abolished slavery and some gave Blacks the right to vote. So that particular point does not seem relevant to me.

Much more relevant - the same rules should apply to all. You seem unwilling to acknowledge that tax supported privileges based on who you work for are unjust and undermines equality under the law. Hospitals and schools before banks seems to me a pretty reasonable position - given that the hospitals did not get all they asked for, is it too much to ask that everyone be in the same boat? If Goldman Sachs cares so much for their employees' health, give them time off to go stand in line like everyone else.

Further, the goodies go to firms that over and over again have abused their power to win privileges paid for by the rest of us. Lots of decent people work there - some have been students of mine - but the top people are another story. We'd be better off as a country if Goldman Sachs had never existed.