greed

Leave it to the Wall Street Journal to find some morons with credentials who will sing the praises of greed, excessive bonuses, and unlimited pay. Or bemoan the country for "railing against the rich."

I have stated before that I don't have a problem with people pocketing ridiculous amounts of money -there is no way to stop them in any case, so why worry?- but I do have a serious problem when these individuals try to justify their bounty. Not only are these guys greedy, they also display hugely inflated egos and profoundly anti-social behavior. This is borderline psychopathic at best.

Arguments in favor of excessive compensation are totally bogus. Nobody in their right mind can claim that their efforts, insights, wit, or genius is worth three orders of magnitude in extra pay. Those who believe such things need to have their minds checked out. Face it, all these guys have going for them is that they happened to be in the right place at the right time. It may have taken them some maneuvering skill to get there,  but that is a far cry from the outrageous assertions they make.

Furthermore, recent events have shown that financial geniuses paying themselves millions not only do not create anything of value, they cause nothing but trouble. As one economics professor explained: they sell manure. Their great "contribution" to humanity was that they managed to temporarily convince everyone that it was rose-water.

At the very best financial wizards lubricate an unsustainable economy of waste and destruction. More often they just cause pain and hardship for everyone without producing anything of value in return.

There is a good reason why all religions think of greed as a sin. Greed is bad for humans. Not just for the greedy ones, it is bad for all of us. It lowers our chances of success as a species and it impacts our ability to survive.

Greed is like drug use gone wild. Some amount of selfishness is good and beneficial, much like an occasional glass of wine. But excessive consumption and addiction quickly becomes a threat not just to the well-being of the individual who engages in it, but also to those around them.

It is not just bad form for a prominent paper such as the Wall Street Journal to commend greed, it is reprehensible. Much like advocating addiction, or other destructive behaviors. Even they should know better.

american-style capitalism

It is often said that the American economic system is the best in the world. Then again, it is often said US healthcare is the best in the world too. And American cars, American TV, etc. Waving the flag is big business.

Every once in a while though, there are some hard data that tell a different story. Take Wall Street bankers and their $18 billion bonuses for 2008. Aren't bonuses supposed to reward good performance? Aren't bonuses there to "align" the executives with the interests of the business and its shareholders? Isn't this country supposed to be a meritocracy, where good work is rewarded? Wasn't America founded on hard work?

The sad truth is more than obvious. Those who are close to the honey pot get extra servings. Whether they work hard or not, whether they do what they are supposed to do or not, whether they perform as required or not. The pot is theirs and even when others have to go empty handed, the guardians of the honey pot reward themselves richly.

We can only draw one conclusion: American-style capitalism is about nothing but greed. Those who display it, get away with murder.

Kudos to Obama for speaking out and calling it shameful. Unfortunately it is worse than shameful. It is criminal. Criminal negligence that deserves more than harsh words. No amount of cosmetic surgery is going to fix this problem. What we need is some deep cuts to remove the rot. Where is the public outrage?

the return of the gas guzzlers and more waste

Unfortunately, gas prices have dipped considerably in the past few months. That has people "changing" their driving habits again. Some psychologists and other luminaries, who probably never heard of addiction before, had already been wondering if Americans had truly changed their minds on driving. Give me a break ! There is no way people could change these habits even if they wanted to. They are addicts. 

All summer long they were like smokers sitting through a long flight, eager to light up as soon as they got off the plane. Now that they are on safe ground again, they are fuming like the old smokestack.

Today we read that Ford has recalled 1,000 workers to build more F-150's next year. The F-150 is one of those gas-guzzling monster pickups that people had been craving but were forced to hold off on because of the $4 a gallon gas prices. Now Ford is convinced there is pent-up demand "from business users who need it for their jobs." Seriously, that is what they said. If you believe that you believe in Santa Claus too. It is the season after all.

F-150's are largely bought by people who don't need a truck but who have an intense desire to show off in public. People who are no doubt very insecure and have wet dreams about Rambo at night. I don't doubt that there are a few small businesses who legitimately need a truck but one look at the F-150 will tell you that this truck was not designed for that crowd. The F-150 is designed for the average commuter who wants to tell other commuters, look at me, I am powerful.

Needless to say this is another dumb decision. Gas prices are sure to go up again as soon as people start driving again. Now is not the time to load up on cars that will soon have to be abandoned because you hate the $100+ fill-up at the pump.

Unfortunately, our great politicians missed another chance to do something smart and to prevent future headaches. If the government is going to give money to Ford, they should at least tell them to stop making these types of vehicles.

Meanwhile, the bankers on Wall Street are going to pay $40 billion in bonuses, fees, pensions and other goodies to their "hard-working" executives. That is more than they will pay for all their other workers combined. And guess where they will get the money? Bail-out? BINGO. You said it!!