I'm very whiny tonight. (For the usual reasons: didn't work out; haven't worked out in a couple of days; not fitting into clothes; am not getting the support I need at work; am tired. Etcetera. There; now I don't have to detail any of it.)
I've also been annoyed by this article. And, really, who wouldn't be? I do not give a rat's ass that the people around you are taking two vacations a year ($16k) or have a car and driver rather than take public transportation, or have a nanny, or "need" suits and evening gowns, or need a vacation spot in the Hamptons or wherever the fuck the rich people are hanging these days. Really; I don't care. The culture that supposedly requires you to do that so that you can fit in is a broken culture. And it's broken in two very important ways. For one thing--and this is my lesser complaint, actually--that particular kind and level of consumption is problematic. For the other, more important, thing, though, the level of consumption is apparently provided and expected no matter how well or poorly these bozos perform. If I did my job as "well" as these titans of industry and finance, I'd be out of a goddamned job, not whining about how I just cannot get by on a measly half-million a year.
Take, by way of contrast, someone who has been incredibly successful in the financial world: Warren Buffett. Does he live that lifestyle? Um, no. Do his kids? No, again. I'm sure he's not perfect; none of us are. But the whole notion that one should be paid exorbitant sums (a) simply because others are making exorbitant sums, (b) regardless of whether one's own performance is good, in order that (c) one can maintain the Lifestyle of those others, is simply fucked, and not in a good way.
The worst thing, for me, is that these people don't actually MAKE anything. They do not build anything, they do not own businesses that build or make anything. You cannot eat, wear, drive, live in, or hold their "products." In fact, they work very hard to ensure that the products we need are produced elsewhere, in some other country, because that makes more money for the shareholders, who are, you guessed it, another part of this immense circle jerk. Not that I'm peevish about it or anything.
5 comments:
Mm-hmm, exactly.
I think it's Allende, in The House of the Spirits, who observes that the downfall of a great family is so awful because the aristocrats must somehow keep up appearances of aristocracy.
As you say, Buffett is probably not perfect. Still, I liked what he told reporters who were "concerned" about his kids after he gave away what amounted to his entire fortune: "They will have enough that they'll be able to do anything, but they won't have enough that they'll be able to do nothing."
My word verification: floffy
Oh, by the way: There are about 8,000 loopholes in the $500k salary cap. My prediction: Few execs will experience a significant pay cut.
I'm with you about these cats that make nothing, export jobs and suffer living conditions making only a few mil a year. If ever the guillotine makes a come back we know who will be at the top of the list.
And -
Your letter, is "G".
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