Blithe Incorporated

Need I report that the days of chivalry are over. Deference to those portrayed as the smarter, stronger or more worthy segment of society used to be rewarded with the protection of coveted property. When the province was attacked by looters and pillagers, for example, the peasants were granted entrance to the castle or fort. Wenches could dress like maidens when the master needed more respected workers or servants. Even children could expect tokens of appreciation when they proved helpful or at least useful.

Nobility had its privileges, but also its obligations to the poor and disabled. Noblesse oblige was the social mechanism that kept the elite honorable and the subjected appeased. There was no virtue in conquering the weak, humbling the lowly, or profiting from the needy. Those dependent on the lord as monsignor ("my lord") had the right, at least, to a subsistence level of existence.

Abuse of any person or property was dealt with as a threat to the general welfare. The social compact, though enforcing a class system, recognized an interdependence of duty. The lord was in a position to be both judge and community activist. The knight was both policeman and advocate. The gentleman/lady were employer and social worker.

Festivals and feast days were the time for mirthful mingling. Yet blitheness was never enjoyed at the expense of the less foolhardy. In other words, crooks and drunks were seen as a blight on the blithesome occasion.

Enter the present-day situation where your station in life is either first-class or baggage, depending on which end of the money trough you're feeding. You're seen as either affluently lighthearted or as disturbingly dead weight. Dense is the steerage compartment while all the hand-outs are on deck.

Respect is democratically reserved for money, irrespective of class. There is more attention paid to Mary J. Blige than noblesse-oblige.

Today, the lords of industry judge labor cheaply. The knights of the round tables police markets by putting advocacy/lobbying at the service of profits. The gentlemen and ladies of Hi-Fi society employ gimmicks that work to make others more social and less refined.

"I got mine, the heck with you" is the blithe assertion of the private-jet set. "You should get some work done" is the carefree advice of the make-over compact."Let them eat rice cakes" is the noble suggestion of the fashion aficionados. Interdependent duties include one hand washing the other while backs get scratched.

The more things change, the more they stay oblivious to injustice. So, relax America and have your C.C. (Crony Capitalism) on the rocks with a splash of tears. I'll let you know when it's safe to come outside; but the looting and pillaging seems to want to take its blithely-sweet time.