A diary on the rec list by Delegate Kirill Reznik informs dKos readers about legislation he has submitted in Maryland to restrict the increasingly common (in fact, nearly universal) practice of obtaining credit reports on job applicants.
I think the Delegate's initiative is praiseworthy and overdue, but some Kossacks disagree. They believe that "debt criminals," as one commenter called those of us with credit issues, are poor risks as employees. For them, it appears to be a moral issue.
The absurdity of that claim reminded me of another time and issue. Once upon a time in America, there was a draft. Ironically, one way of avoiding the draft was to have committed a crime involving moral turpitude, which gave rise to a generational anthem that applies to this current controversy.
Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" reaches its climax as Arlo is undergoing his draft physical at White Hall Street in NYC. Arlo does have a conviction in his past and winds up on the Group W bench with some serious criminals. Finally, the sergeant in charge asks the fellows whether they have "rehabilitated" themselves sufficiently to be inducted into the Army. Arlo responds:
I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to
ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm
sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench
'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women,
kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and
said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints
off to Washington."
My response to those who feel corporations are justified in running credit checks on potential employees is similar. After all, how moral do you have to be to work for a corporation....
A corporation like Dow Chemical/Union Carbide who kills thousands in Bhopal, India and refuses to this day to take responsibility.
A corporation like Enron who first gamed the electrical grids to scam Californians out of millions of dollars, then lied to its stockholders and employees day after day as the company was crashing.
A corporation like Arthur Andersen (technically, an LLP) that helped Enron cover its losses, thereby defrauding its stockholders and employees.
A corporation like Halliburton that provided contaminated water to U. S. troops in Iraq.
After reflecting on these examples of corporate morality, I beg your indulgence for my 2010 take on Arlo's song.
Mr. HR man, you got a lot of damn gall. I mean, I mean, I'm sitting here explaining to you my low credit score 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough to pollute cities, rig prices, steal pensions, poison soldiers, corrupt the government and game government bailouts...
after bein' late on a car payment.
Now go and sing a bar of Alice's Restaurant.