Nathaniel

Shockey

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March 25, 2009

The AIG Fiasco: Rage and Recrimination

The AIG fiasco is, at least from an outsider’s perspective, one of two things. Some people are infuriated, while others find it funny – or at least that’s what we tell ourselves to keep from falling into the first category. Concerning the outraged, it’s important to be careful when choosing the direction in which to aim your anger.

So let’s consider what we know. AIG got in financial straits, so the higher-ups knocked on the front door of the White House and said, “A little help?” The White House called all its buddies, who met and decided to answer by saying, “No problem.” AIG, wiping the sweat off its brow in relief, took this newfound wealth and paid off the bonuses that they were, allegedly, under contract to pay. The White House and its buddies read about this in the paper while having their morning Irish coffee, and they almost made it to their tee-time that day until one person realized that the word “million” followed the “$163.” He showed it to someone else, asking, “Am I reading this correctly?”

None of them were sure, so they showed Barack Obama, who said, “If I’m reading this correctly, and I’d like to think that I am, we just gave money we didn’t even have to a company who promised money it didn’t have, and that company already gave it all away to a small handful of employees. Is that right?”

One person chimed in by saying, “Almost sir, but we’re only sure about the $163 million. We’re still not sure what they’re doing with the rest of the money we gave them.”

Most of us know what happened after that – public and governmental outrage, weeping and gnashing of teeth, etc. So what did we learn?

Apparently, what we are supposed to learn is that rich people, or as we have been instructed to call them, Wall Street Fat Cats (WSFCs), are greedy, evil and obviously to blame for the state of the economy. But I’d suggest that this is only partially true. A portion of rich people is greedy, and this portion shares a portion of the blame for our economy. To build one’s fortune on credit can backfire most violently. Have you ever done that?

Statistically, most people reading this have. But they’re less responsible for all this because they’re neither as smart, hard-working and/nor as fortunate to have made their way to a position of wealth and power. This means that one response might be to throw stones at people who did the same thing most Americans are currently doing, only on a larger scale.

There are other options. We could realize that, when the government decides to bail out a company, it tends to feel responsible for how the money they gave away (money they never even had, mind you) is being spent. Who likes that idea? We pledge our future tax dollars to the White House, allowing them to spend it as they see fit. They give it away as carefully as they can, and when it is used in a way they deem irresponsible, they get angry and demand reparations. I don’t like much about that idea at all. In fact, that makes me much madder than realizing there are WSFCs in the world.

At least I am more or less unaffected by the actions of a large company. But when the government begins pledging our future earnings and proceeds to delegate how these monies are spent after giving them away, I get extremely nervous.

There is still another option. Learn from the mistakes and move on. If you like the way our government is spending trillions of dollars, the way it has bloated more in two months than it did during the entire Bush Administration, OK. Vote accordingly. If you like the way companies handle your money, then keep investing in them.

And on the other side, if enough of us don’t appreciate the way America’s business is being handled, we will, assuming our company is still breathing in four years, have a chance to hire better help.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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