Tom Wolfe got that one right. "Lords of the Universe."

Great Quote from Mr. Young!

There are some smart guys who work for these firms but we all know that the primary quality always sought by the business world has never been "best and brightest". It has always been those who were most rapacious, willling to do anything to get ahead without any concern for ethics or morality. Yet, for as long as I can remember we have kissed these people's asses because their worship of money has become the society's highest and most desirable value. This immorality ethic has corrupted our entire society. We learn about the robber barons in our history classes and then naively assume that "those days are in the past" when right under our noses the American businessman has idolized and worshiped those crooks.

Our perverted culture has always rewarded the fast-talking hucksters and snake oil salesmen. The New Dealers understood this very well and that is why despite the screeching protests of the predator classes they insituted the reforms and regulations that kept the American economy on a relatively stable operating basis for so long. All the reforms and deregulation were justified with charts showing how complicated new methods could be used to "grow" profits and when questioned about the possibility of the excesses and mistakes of the past being made they basically said "oh well, nobody would ever take those kinds of foolish risks." The Reublicans swallowed it and declared it the best meal ever prepared. With the addition of lots of sweetener by greasing enough palms (in terms of campaign contributions) the predator class convinced enough Democrats that it was a tasty dish as well. And that was that. Now look where we are.

I'll come in on the other side.

A family member who works for one of the bailed out banks and got a bonus(not 7 figures , but a lot)holds exactly the same views of its management as expressed here. And more to the point held them when the analysts and the business media portrayed it in glowing terms and we were under strict instructions to shred her comments.

But.

Says: " I did my job, I earned that bonus." She doesn't say , but could, the tax payers would have had to contribute even more if she hadn't.

What I really like (in the NY Times article, where the AIG honchos portray their huge bonuses as being REQUIRED -- in the rotund name of the law) is the way the paying out of huge bonuses where the RESULTS have been failure is seen as inevitable and routine. Of COURSE you get bonuses, even where your company loses money -- it's the sanctity of contract.

Now the eggplanting (in the rotund name of the law etc etc) elite choose to honor the so-called sanctity of contract only when it suits their needs, and when it comes to injuries (let alone crimes against humanity), all is permissible if those in power consider it "God's will" and their own interests to do so.

The bonus brouhaha is merely an illustration of the larger principle -- if you want anything run honestly, you have to get the shmucks out and have honest people run it. If the government owns 80% of the company, they should step up to the plate, and take the risk that these supposed contractual obligations would, at least in part, hold up in court. I can assure you that the systemtatically corrupt of the elite, cozy with the systematically corrupt of the federal judiciary, have no compunction about denying fundamental rights, let alone contractual obligations, where (as with AIG execs) it "serves" -- their own interests and agenda.

Nice post, Professor. It may be that irony is in the ear of the beholder. Wall Street has its own expressions that are misinterpreted. Like an amusing little wine, the irony in phrases like “credit default swap” or “sub-prime loan” (we know what, or who, that really means, don’t we?) is just delightful.

Of course, some of the “Street” expressions are just downright mockery: executive “compensation” (everyone I know earns wages or a salary), “bonuses” (at Christmas, right? -from Santa?), “rules and regulations” (yeah, right…in a “free market”?) and the classic,“too big to fail.” In the end, bankruptcy and buy-outs somehow become bail-outs.

In an era when Orwell has been jacked by the ****ocracies he railed against, the 21st century financial markets seem to have been fabricated out of thin air; built on generalizations, euphemisms, fallacies, misnomers and misdirection- phantom value on credit/debt/leverage... lather/rinse/repeat- or as they might have said in the Great Depression, flim-flam.

IT IS A CLASS STRUGGLE
How much longer will the working class put up with the Meritocracy, or any other name designed to soften the image,

How about using the term Capitalism, is that broad enough, less bad connotation.

Capitalism whose ultimate goal is to achieve what proponents of Meritocracy, Plutocracy desire.

A Meritocracy so imbedded; with so many blind supporters and defenders, whose goal is to someday; be like them, and will do whatever to assure the preservation of the means to achive the highest levels.

Capitalism must be perserved in order to move up the ladder.

How do WE reign in the abuse and not be labeled enemies of Capitalism.

Derided as Socialists?

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

"The capitalist class is represented by the Republican, Democratic, Populist and Prohibition parties, all of which stand for private ownership of the means of production, and the triumph of any one of which will mean continued wage- slavery
They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to SPOILS and not to principles.

Of course, Socialism is violently denounced by the capitalist press and by all the brood of subsidized contributors to magazine literature, but this only confirms the view that the advance of Socialism is very properly recognized by the capitalist class as the one cloud upon the horizon which portends an end to the system in which they have WAXED FAT, INSOLENT and despotic through the exploitation of their countless wage-working slaves."

What is the mindset of those in power at Treasury, the Fed the Congress? They must perserve the ability, for all Citizns to achieve what the Meritocracy has, Wealth and Power.

I'm beginning to really resent politicians who are aware of how pissed off the public is at these unwarranted bonuses being paid to the executives who caused this economic tsunami, using this awareness to fight to be first in front of the TV cameras to condemn and demand retribution from these cretins when all the while nothing actually happens. Its comparable to Democratic Committee chairmen like Conyers and Leahy bloviating about the Bush administration, again, while nothing comes of their hot air.

The irony is its the same politicians who at best either stood idly by while this economy was being raped or at worst helped this armaggedon along.

There needs to be a sign on Interstate 95 just outside D C. 'Beware of strong winds around the Capitol Building.'

Do you remember that famous scene inside Rick's cafe in the movie Casblanca where the head of the police tells Rick, " I'm shocked, absolutely shocked that gambling has been going on here"? When all along he knew it and also participated. The same seems to be true of our elected officials. You mean to tell me that none in DC knew this was coming? Please, if you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you real cheap.
Those in DC will huff and puff as they always do at these "shocking" developments, but little if anything will be done about it in order to recoup the millions being paid out in bonuses. What is even more shocking which can be found a www.firedoglake.com is that of the 170 billion that has already been given to AIG, only one third of it was given to US banks. The rest went to European banks to prop them up.
If your not outraged enough yet, just sit back and watch the comedy show that will now come out of DC and yet not one penny of our money will be returned. The joke is on us friends. The powers to be get to screw up something and we the unclean masses always are the ones left to clean up the mess. The math is simple to understand. There are way more of us than there are of them. So we're the lucky ones in getting our pockets picked plain and simple.

I remember back in the good ol' days, companies had Profit Sharing Plans. If there was a profit, each employee got a share...no profit meant no share. What a clever idea!

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