Folks May Be Broke and States Bankrupt, but Corporations Give Themselves Bonuses Anyhow
All that's left to do is flush...
There’s a line from one of the most popular movies of recent years that goes like this: “Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?” (The Matrix, Warner Bros.)
These past couple weeks have been, if anything, a waking nightmare from which I keep hoping I’ll awaken. But the odds of that happening diminish with every passing day, every passing hour, every passing moment. And what’s even worse is that nobody really seems to care–assuming that they even notice.
I mean, I hate expending blog space to such idiocy when there are more dire situations going on. But last night, my mind was made up. I had to vent… or, in this case, vomit from the poison that we’re being fed by the bucketfuls on a daily basis.
Not all that long ago, we saw the American taxpayers forced to bail out the richest corporations and financial institutions in the world, under the boastful delusion that they were simply “too big to be allowed to fail.” If these CEOs, and other elite from Wall Street and across the nation were actually allowed to experience the results of their indiscretionary greed and speculative stock marketing, it would hurt every Tom, Dick, and Harry on “Main Street.” By helping them, it would help “Main Street.” Or so we were spoon-fed and eagerly sucked down like infants at the breasts of a nursemaid. It took some coaxing and some carefully chosen words issued in an enthusiastic spiel from the latest President, of course, but we sucked it down, nonetheless. The coffers of the richest of the rich who have entitled themselves to earnings in the millions, multi-home estates, private jets and exotic cars, were suddenly flooded by American taxpayers, with little to no oversight and certainly no accountability or prerequisites on how the money would be spent. It was given unconditionally, while publicly we were assured that we would see a return on our wise investment that would prove that this was just the right thing to do at this precarious moment in our history.
Well, the months since then have passed and allowed these financial institutions to take the money we gave them, and they swiftly bolstered up their bank accounts. It wasn’t long before it became evident that the money that we had lent them was not making its way down the food chain. Only the cream of the crop were being found worthy to refinance to better mortgages. At the same time, employment skyrocketed to startling new levels, businesses closed, layoffs commenced, and the marketplace found itself in dire straits as money slowed. People were starting to notice that instead of feeding the money through to Main Street, things were continuing just like they were before—the difference now being that the banks were being even more tight-fisted with the money we gave them. Unless you had top-grade credit scores, you were out of luck and on your own. People began to get grumpy.
Once again, Obama assured the American people that everything was going as planned. That it was going to take a while. That there would be some discomfort during this period, but that everyone was feeling the pain and that we would get through this process if we stuck together and were patient.
Almost as soon as those words were issued, reports from the Associated Press and other news outlets started announcing that some of the companies that taxpayers had bailed out were already preparing to pay out significant bonuses to their employees and executives. A few were even reporting a sudden profit.
Even more ironic, there are now some 37 states that are on the verge of economic disaster, foremost being California. California has decided to start issuing IOUs for the meantime. The banks’ response: No way are we going to accept IOUs! You pay or you go without! This from the same financial instutions that were handed billions of American taxpayers’ dollars to head off “failure.” To add insult to injury, on the heels of that announcment of refusal to accept IOUs until money could start flowing again, AIG announced another series of bonus payments to itself, and according to reports, the Federal government will be given its blessing so as to stave off any public backlash that might occur.
Did I miss the punchline somewhere along the way? What is there about this that makes sense to the American public? Where is the level of public indignation that this travesty deserves in response? How is this even possible? The rising bile in my throat and mouth leaves me gagging every single moment that I expend my brain’s caloric burn in trying to wrap my head around this. And still things are allowed to perpetuate and continue.
Oh, sure, people whinge, p*ss and moan. In their coffee shops, in the break rooms, at the bus stops. But that’s all they seem to be willing to do. God forbid that people should band together and say enough’s enough. Revolting against injustice is something best left to Iraqi folk who risk their lives out in the streets, crying out for justice and to be heard. Taking back control of one’s nation is best left to Hondurans in the poorer third world. We continue to believe that we’ll just solve our problems at the next election, where we’ll once again fasten ourselves to the bloated nipple of some full-of-empty-promises, smooth talking politician who comes along swearing up and down that he or she will nurture this nation back to its former greatness, when hard work really paid off and corporations and financial oligarchies were kept in check by a people who had endured through the Awakening of a Renaissance and Industrial Age and the freedom of the Press.
Our inaction is proof that we don’t care one bit. Not really. We hide behind the delusions of “democracy” but fail to live by it: a government by the people for the people. We are a pathetic nation that deserves not even a modicum of pity as we plummet over the edge into oblivion and self-destruction. And, hey, if you get a little indignant at my selection of derogatory words in regards to the so-called “greatest nation on earth,” then prove me wrong. Show me where you and your friends and coworkers are getting ready to march on Washington and demand real change, and demand a stop to idiocy and nonsense, and I’ll sign on. I’ll march with you.
Why don’t you let me know when enough really is enough.