One of my new favorite bloggers: Jane Devin: A Story of Class and Morality
"A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post, "Walmart Greeter Buys 6-Pack of Beer & Is Condemned," that touched (pinched) a few nerves. It is becoming, it seems, more and more acceptable to flog the poor for their perceived failings and abuses, while at the same time the capricious excesses of the rich are ignored -- or even applauded. A central point in my article was that moral judgments are not applied equally to all classes:
... morality arguments fall short when certain values are applied only to one class of people -- in this case the poor. If we believe that privileges should be earned, then all people should be held equally accountable for earning them. If we're going to damn the poor for their lack of contributions, then we should damn with equal vigor those wealthy people and corporations who go out of their way to contribute as little as possible. If we believe in the tenets of hard work and perseverance -- if we are disgusted by laziness, a sense of entitlement, a lack of circumspect behavior, or a failing of personal responsibility -- then these precepts should apply to all classes of people: rich, poor and in-between."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-devin/story-of-class-and-morality_b_1717448.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email+Notifications&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=411409,b=facebook