Greed

Greed denotes desire to acquire wealth for possessions beyond the needs of the individual, especially when this accumulation of possession denies others legitimate needs or access to those or other resources.

I started contemplating the concept of greed after reading an article this morning about how the financial companies, who received bailout money from the United States Government (which equals taking money from the American people), were still giving out bonuses to their employees this year. How is it that anyone could rationalize giving bonuses when their companies were almost bankrupt and are being propped up with money given to them so that they wouldn't collapse?

The one word that came to mind was GREED. How can they be so incredibly irresponsible and greedy?

Here is one article that was written about the bonus payouts from theTrumpet.com

Banks Using Taxpayer Bailout Money to Pay Bonuses
October 28, 2008 by Robert Morely

"If there was any doubt America's financial system is broken, a news item from Bloomberg just shattered it.

In a stunning revelation, Bloomberg is reporting that despite the fact that taxpayers will be spending hundreds of billions of dollars bailing out the banking industry, banking insiders are still on track to receive tens of billions in bonuses. Even more incredible is the fact that these bonuses are coming at a time when shareholder pensions have been crushed, and many of the firms are laying off thousands of employees.

According to the report, both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are scheduled to pay out bonuses of $6.85 billion and $6.44 billion respectively. That equates to an astounding $210,000 per employee for Goldman and $138,700 per person for Morgan Stanley. And that is despite the fact that Goldman's profit has fallen 47 percent this year, and the share price is down 53 percent. Morgan Stanley?s earnings have tumbled 41 percent and its shares have shed 69 percent of their value.

But get ready for the real kicker.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are each receiving $10 billion from the government as part of the effort to help prop up the financial system.

It is beyond reason that the government would devote so much money to these firms when they are going to turn around and pay out the equivalent of more than 64 percent in bonuses.

Does this make sense? Since when has the government been in the business of funding bankers? bonuses with taxpayer money? Wall Street's bankers already receive salaries that range from $80,000 to $600,000 a year."

So let me get this straight. People making $80,000 to $600,000 a year are still going to get bonuses that will average $138,700 to $210,000.

Let's take a look at what an average American household income looks like these days. According to Wikipedia, in 2007, the median annual household income rose 1.3% to $50,233.00 according to the Census Bureau. The real median earnings of men who worked full time, year-round climbed between 2006 and 2007, from $43,460 to $45,113. For women, the corresponding increase was from $33,437 to $35,102. The median income per household member (including all working and non-working members above the age of 14) was $26,036 in 2006. In 2006, there were approximately 116,011,000 households in the United States. 1.93% of all households had annual incomes exceeding $250,000, 12.3% fell below the federal poverty threshold and the bottom 20% earned less than $19,178.

So it appears that the majority of American households who live on an average of $50,000 a year are the ones who have helped out the financial gurus making $80k to $600k a year so that not only would they not lose their jobs, but they will also get their 100k plus bonuses this year. Merry Christmas to Wall Street!

Kind of hard to then drive home on a cold day and see the throngs of people at the food shelter. On Thanksgiving alone the Rescue Mission in Redding, California served 1,000 meals. There were 250 volunteers giving of their time and energy to help feed everyone.

There are times where anger is so very appropriate. Anger lets us know when something is not right. When someone has wronged us. We average Americans, working hard, raising our families, making average salaries, should be angry. The question is what do we do with this anger? Rather than sit and stew, I suggest everyone begin writing and calling their representatives in government. Let your voice be heard. Let them know that we are not clipping coupons, rolling quarters, shopping at thrift stores, skipping the lattes, keeping the thermostat set a bit lower than is comfortable, and telling our kids that Santa won't be bringing many (if any) gifts this year in order to support a segment of the population that just doesn't seem to get it.

If your company not only didn't make any profits this year, but is at risk of going under, no one, NO ONE, should be receiving a bonus. Not only have you mismanaged your company, but you've asked the American people for a loan to bail you out. How DARE you! How DARE you!


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