Just like a bad penny, our old friends from AIG keep turning up, and you have to note their consistency: they screw up eternally. They really have it down to a fine art, learning how to really piss us off.
It's not enough that we have to bail them out twice (so far), which in itself keeps our blood boiling. but now the latest ---the bonuses.
What don't they understand about getting money from the government (which is really reaching ultimately into our pockets) because they are financially hemorrhaging due to the fact that they screwed up and are in a toxic mess and paying bonuses? From the wonderful folks whose investments are in freefall, we get bonuses to their executives? Ah, I think I'm beginning to understand: if you really fuck up long enough and hard enough, then you should be rewarded. It's getting to be an American mantra---really mess up long-term , the good fairy in Washington rewards you. Like GM and Ford and Chrysler.
What kind of insensitivity or just plain we-don't-give-a-shit-what-you-think attitude do they have? That's easy. They simply don't care. I'm a high-powered executive, and I deserve to be paid for my efforts. Just because my firm is bleeding crimson numbers doesn't have a thing to do with me---I have a lifestyle to maintain and I need it now!
It is hell being old and remembering how hard work and honesty used to be virtues in business---and life. I'm too old to get it, the new philosophy of I-want-mine-now, But I have to say, the boys from AIG don't understand those old-fashioned virtues. They don't want to get it.
A fine explanation of the outrage we all feel.
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