skyrocketed on everyone but the rich. The public good was left to charity and to whatever "trickled down." Perfect meritocracy was declared. It wasn't long until we had the L.A. riots. But it was inevitable. In a society in which large numbers of people are slipping permanently behind and treated with not even so much as compassion or understanding, but rather loathing and contempt for it; when anyone with money is treated as having a higher order of consciousness and morality -- where is the social contract? "We're all in this together," the world wars made us say, and believe -- but that changed to "I got mine -- get yours!" And to the devil with you if you don't. When society treats you as invisible, expendable, and contemptible -- where is the impetus to do well or do right? Or even to hope? When the stakeholders in a society are all at the top, the bottom has no stake in order. It may be that very order that demeans and condemns them and fights hardest against them. It should come as no surprise when societies reap what they Loading comments... I haven't seen any posts in the last few days I've agreed with more than this. Davis's piece is just the kind of wider base we need as a society to go from to sort things out. Much more of use to the wider discussion than Dr Starkey's comments. I hope that social debate will stem from this and