Were I offered a $285 ticket for a gimmicky secret supper event for jaded affluent foodies, I could not accept. Why not? Simple – conscience. Me dine on grilled oysters while the rest of us get takeout? No way! I was raised a Democrat. And that “us” is important.

Were I hired by owners of a $1 million “cottage” to double-check its security alarms, I would turn that job down, too, even when really hungry, in a state treated by them like a banana republic.

These stories in the June 23 Sunday edition (“As seasonal home sales grow in Maine, businesses pop up to watch them” and “Adventure dining comes to Maine“) emphasize what we already know: The rich are getting richer in inverse proportion to the rest of us hanging on, angry and resentful. Stay tuned for consequences this fall.

When Marie Antoinette was told her starving peasants had no bread she replied, “so let them eat cake!” Well, she lost her head. And empire. Lessons then learned of liberté, égalité, fraternité imputed into in our Constitution and social behavior are taking a back seat to democracy – especially that égalité part.

Barbara Skapa
Mount Vernon