I know that the Bell System was something special. We are all
> letting it be stolen from us.
I totally agree with this sentiment. It's very sad what's been done in the 35 years since the breakup,
I don't entirely understand what you mean by:
We're letting a bunch of stockbrokers ruin the Bell System that we
> all worked on. They're making billions by trading away the Bell
> System's reputation for reliability and fairness, one disappointed
> customer and missed appointment and outright lie at a time.
Don't you mean "We let" not "we're letting"?
The Bell System is history, broken up, gone. Even the Baby Bells are largely absorbed or swallowed up by now. The original AT&T is history, a small unit of SBC d/b/a "AT&T" in attempt to pass off their incompetency under the reputation of the old company.
I totally hear you, but what is still being done to tarnish the Bell System name? Nothing being done today is associated with the Bell System.
If you made the argument they're soiled AT&T's name, that makes more sense, since SBC is now masquerading as AT&T at least...
Although I'm a bit disappointed the Bell name is not being used much at all these days, it's also slightly relieving in the way that the "Bell" moniker will never be equated with the terrible lousy service provided today.