Day 786, The Privilege of Wealth

 

What good is being rich if you can’t buy yourself a break?

For, faster horses, older whisky, younger women make

Life so much more rewarding at the top end of the curve.

Why shouldn’t rich folks have the things they all think they deserve?

 

That goes as well for children of the rich, why shouldn’t they

Enjoy the benefits when mom and daddy pay to play?

Besides the trust funds, why not add prestigious school degrees?

Some big donations here and there can smooth out choppy seas.

 

If you are shocked that this goes on, you know you shouldn’t be.

When Jared went to Harvard, his dad paid a hefty fee.

Two point five million dollars, daddy paid to get him in.

How much did Fred Trump pay to get his Donald into Penn?

 

So, now we have a scandal where rich kids matriculate

In schools where they’re not qualified.  Their parents lubricate

The process with “donations” (bribes) to those who smooth the way.

And, lots of big names are involved, their ethics gone astray.

 

The schools involved have been “blindsided;” that’s what they all claim.

Were they surprised that they were caught in this rich privilege game?

It’s well-known big enough donations may buy kids a spot.

That’s in the open; just the back-room bribery was not.

 

Surprise!  Surprise, our system grants our rich folks benefits.

One generation to the next, wealth faithfully transmits.

With ethics and our fairness concepts taking a back seat,

Maintaining privilege sometimes drives our richest folks to cheat.

 

Our legislators won’t do much; they need the campaign cash.

The schools like big donations; once more ethics, money clash.

The clergy haven’t spoken up.  Should they brand this a sin?

Will students question what their parents did to get them in?