Working Out the Rage

I had suggested to someone on the way to work this morning that maybe the solution to getting employees of firms which received bailout money to return their bonus’ was simply to publish the addresses of all those that did not online. Well it seems that people’s rage is actually working at pace with mine. Sadly I’m too far from any of these people to throw rocks myself.

I do understand that some of the people are perhaps being unfairly targeted. They may “not have been involved” but they still reaped the fruits of other’s less than prudent behaviour because the firm was successful, and thus able to shower them with benefits. But to listen to their complaints…

Mr. Haas walked on, his pink shirt a burst of color on a slate-gray afternoon. The words came haltingly. "You have to understand,” he said, “there are kids involved, there have been death threats. ..." His voice trailed off. It looked as if he was fighting back tears.

Kids involved eh? I wonder how many of those receiving eviction notices have kids? At least you still get to keep your house “with its three chimneys and its views of Southport Harbor and Long Island Sound in the distance.” Must be nice. I bet the calls from collection agencies feel like death threats to the people getting them. Again, I have no sympathy. Maybe it’s time for you to explain to your kids what exactly you were involved in, and why people are so angry at you. It might be even better if when an NYT reporter comes to talk to you, instead of giving some story about how bad you have it, maybe you should at least apologize and demonstrate that you have SOME capacity for understanding why people would be so upset. Sure things are “bad” for you, but they are A LOT worse for MOST of the rest of America. Maybe getting a few rocks thrown through your window will be a reality check.

The article goes on:

One A.I.G. executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared the consequences of identifying himself, said many workers felt demonized and betrayed. “It is as bad if not worse than McCarthyism,” he said. Everyone has sacrificed the employees of A.I.G.’s financial products division, he said, “for their own political agenda.”

Worse than McCarthyism? Really? The reds didn’t (nearly?) destroy the American or perhaps global financial system in their lust for money! YOU feel demonized and betrayed?! How about all of those people who’s money has been lost, or who will have to shoulder the burden of paying for hundreds of billions of dollars of federal government bailouts? They probably don’t feel demonized, but I bet a lot of people out there feel betrayed. It wasn’t long ago that these banks were telling us that self regulation was the best option when it has resulted in a colossal failure.