Bob Franken

Like anyone, my life is governed by certain principles. Among them is the steadfast belief that one should always aim low to have any chance at all of avoiding failure. It’s an article of faith, or actually, an article of a lack of faith. Whatever, it would follow then that even in this age of obscene financial inequality, those few who hold power and riches would be anxious to throw a crumb to those at the bottom. Never mind any sense of altruism, which is obsolete these days, but a tiny act of generosity might keep the rabble from getting restless.

So one would think that the idea of raising...