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Josh Blumenthal's avatar

Act of virtue: My parents, when I was but 2, realized they could not afford the home they owned so they put it up for sale. A local doctor came forward to buy it and made an offer my father accepted. However, it was 1950 and in selling to the doctor he was selling to a black woman. My father was a rabbi but only in his first few years with the congregation and there were powerful people that asked him not to accept the offer, to sell to another buyer -- any buyer -- who was white. He sold the house to the doctor and we moved to a more modest home. He put his position on the line, possibly turning down more money for the house, because she had made an offer and he had accepted.

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June Girvin's avatar

From the standpoint of a person who lives in the UK I can identify with most of what you say. The elevation of the moneyed classes to the ranks of role model, aspirational figure, or influencer is both sad and vulgar. For your Bill Clinton example read our Boris Johnson, or in fact most of our current government, for Taylor Swift read Marcus Rashford or Sir Elton John. The issue with modest altruism or philanthropy is that no-one gets to see the honourable acting with honour and the notion slips from view. The quiet altruism of noblesse oblige is scorned as patronising or conscience salving which, to me, is a petty and resentful take.

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