My favorite bit of Ted Kennedyísm is where he confronts then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and asks for his resignation. Few would have the gumption to do that. One forgets the influence of the Senator until reminded during the numerous tributes that have run this week. Some of them have been quite moving such as his helping of the littlest refusnik and her family or his work with a family to provide better armor for vehicles in Iraq, work that has saved hundreds of lives and thousands of wounded. Kennedy was a powerful man and he used that power, at times to help people in ways that few others could.
We do wonder though if any of those who talk about the Kennedy penchant for helping those less fortunate ever ponder the fact that no one can attain great wealth without taking advantage of others in some way(s). And even if your wealth, as in the case of Ted Kennedy, has largely been handed to you, the maintenance of such wealth has consequences for others, some of whom are less fortunate. I raise this only as an ethical question that we must all address, where should our wealth end and that of others begin?
We do wonder though if any of those who talk about the Kennedy penchant for helping those less fortunate ever ponder the fact that no one can attain great wealth without taking advantage of others in some way(s). And even if your wealth, as in the case of Ted Kennedy, has largely been handed to you, the maintenance of such wealth has consequences for others, some of whom are less fortunate. I raise this only as an ethical question that we must all address, where should our wealth end and that of others begin?