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Death, taxes and Wall Street bonuses
"Socialism" is when somebody else benefits from government largess. When you benefit, then it's your "God Given Right".
The latest lame excuse for passing out million-dollar bonuses is that the culture requires traders and bankers to be compensated for their contribution, irrespective of how their company is doing as a whole.
The rest of us (those who still have jobs), are told that the business downturn is definitely responsible for furloughs, or pay cuts, or the moratorium on raises for the foreseeable future. You can "contribute" until you're blue in the face and all you'll get for it is that you keep your job. Maybe.
The rules are different for the Masters of the Universe. I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't my money they were rewarding themselves with for having messed up the economy with their greed.
It's time to grab the pitchforks.
CHAN LOWE
Comments
Well done, Chan. I think the bonuses are obscene.
Posted by: DM | July 31, 2009 6:48 PM
I think the bonuses are obscene.
I think the bailouts are obscene. What these companies do with their own funds is none of my business.
Posted by: Lolly! | July 31, 2009 8:08 PM
Our purpose, as "citizens", is to consume and reproduce.
Posted by: charles | July 31, 2009 11:09 PM
Well said, Lolly.
Posted by: Maria | July 31, 2009 11:44 PM
The whole point is that the bonuses ARE coming from taxpayer monies.
Posted by: DM | August 1, 2009 6:31 AM
The whole point is that the bonuses ARE coming from taxpayer monies.
No, DM! The whole point is that taxpayer money should not be spent for bailouts.
Besides, this is not even taxpayer money. This is money counterfeited by the FED for the purpose of enriching the politically connected. It will come back to bite us in a few years in the form of hyperinflation.
Posted by: Lolly! | August 1, 2009 8:54 AM
Government has no place in business and business has no place in government!
Posted by: Pointman870 | August 4, 2009 2:00 PM
One
might as well claim that Robin Hood robbed from the poor to give to
the rich! This has more akin with fascism than socialism. Mussolini
proclaimed that fascism was the government plus corporations.
This completely false depiction of socialism comes from the notion
that socialism is government interference in the economy. Every
government in the history of humanity has interfered with the economy.
Every government in history has been socialist according to this
definition, which obviously not the case.
Socialists were among the first and most vocal opponents of bailing
out capitalists with workers money. The Socialist Party categorically
opposes giving capitalists our money. Instead of taking workers money
to give to capitalist businesses, we say, give the capitalists'
businesses to the workers! Visit our website if you want to understand
what socialism really stands for: http://www.socialistparty-usa.org/ .
Posted by: chegitz guevara | August 10, 2009 8:20 PM
Chegitz, of course you are correct that government bailing out capitalists is more akin to fascism than socialism. However, when Obama used the auto bailouts as an excuse for partial government ownership of the auto industry, that indeed smells like socialism.
The capitalists you dislike seem to be crony capitalists or mercantilists. You might want explore the concept of free market capitalism, an entirely different animal.
You should be aware that Ludwig von Mises proved that socialism as an economic system cannot be successful in his 1922 book Socialism, available as free pdf download (Google for URL). If you seriously seek economic truth, read almost anything by Murray Rothbard, most of his works are also available as free pdf download (Google for URL).
Posted by: Lolly! | August 10, 2009 9:03 PM