Ok, seriously, is anyone out there actually surprised that AIG doled out over $160 million in bonuses this weekend? Really? Because if so, they obviously haven't been paying attention.
See, here's the deal folks: the executives that received bonuses did so because of a contract they signed last March. The AIG ship was sinking but their crafty lawyers drew up paperwork that entitled them to bonuses regardless of their performances. The US government should've dotted the i's and crossed the t's before their 80% takeover of AIG but they didn't bother - AIG is "too big to fail".
The government could've either a) ignored the payout schedule or b) let AIG collapse in manner of Lehman, Bears Stearns, etc. Here's the thing though - most government pensions are funneled through AIG. If AIG disappers, so do the retirement payouts to millions of local, state, and federal employees. AIG wasn't too big to fail but its demise would've jeopardized the golden years of America's payroll patriots. Much better to let the robber barons syphon $160 million taxpayer dollars as bonuses. Our elected leaders think that we're too dumb to notice anyhow.
There's been a lot of outcry over the payouts to AIG brass and I haven't heard of one former executive coming forward to denounce their colleagues. Maybe it's because I haven't had cable TV since Monday, but I seriously can't recall reading or watching an interview with a single AIG employee who refused a $3 million taxpayer sponsored bonus because he felt that accepting it was just a tiny bit wrong.
The point is that until the collapse the majority of Wall Street was made up of Greedy Fucking Bastards, with egos only second to those of professional athletes. We live in a culture that fills out airwaves and broadband pipes with stories of bling, glamour, and get rich quick schemes. Sex scandals bring down governors, 1 out of every 4 American girls vies to be an unwed teenage mom, and the former chairman of the SEC steals $50 billion in a Ponzi scheme. The AIG bonus scam rips open the wound that our country has become.
We've become a nation that rewards short term gains at the expense of long term results. We award every youth athlete a trophy, guarantee homeowners who default on mortgages 2% interest loans, and rescue failing banks all while ensuring that AIG execs get their piece of the pie. In short, America is now a nation that not only encourages failure, but makes failure worth our while. Better to fail than to succeed, as both efforts in the end will yield the same results.
I can't offer any advice on how to get out of this other than to state that we totally did this to ourselves. We've become the biggest, baddest, greediest country on the planet while Brazil, China, and India pour themselves a shot of Johnny Walker Blue and collectively laugh their asses off. Welcome to the new millenium where the electorate is apathetic and the political pages read like the script of Mean Girls. Unfortunately, unlike AIG I doubt that America is too big to fail.
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1 comment:
Well written. It sounds like "welfare" is avaialble for those who don't have a job OR those WITH a job but who are dishonest.
As for the the honest hard-working ones? Who appear to be getting ripped off? Either find comfort in honest hard work or start cheating. Whatever makes you feel better, because it's each man for their own at this point. Examine motives. Is hard work rewarding only because we're promised a piece of the pie? Or is it truly because it's the right thing to do? If the answer is the former then it's time to start cheating.
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