The moral corruption and rampant money grabbing that has been filling our headlines since 2008 is starting to get on my tits. The fact that one of the world's greatest athletes, the man who stood as living proof that you could overcome terrific odds and succeed beyond all expectations is in fact nothing but bullshit plastered over a morally bankrupt prick is just the latest kick in the balls in a line of crap that indicates just how despicable people have become.
AIG, the wankers who spearheaded the 2008 financial collapse, are or were considering a lawsuit against the US government following the bailout of the firm. Some pundits claim that the suit is on "solid legal footing" as it will "test just how much the state can demand of a private entity in return for a financial bailout". The bailout cost the US $182 billion. And now they want to sue. Because they drowned themselves in toxic assets while pursuing easy profits. My response? Take a long walk off of a short pier.
This week, Goldman Sachs reversed a decision to postpone bonus pay outs in the UK to take advantage of a recent cut in top end tax rates. Mervyn King, governor of the UK Reserve Bank, called the move "depressing". GS, who also received a bailout to save themselves after loading up on toxic debt, are currently deep in the black, watching their profits soar. GS, interestingly enough, were also amongst the firms who invested heavily on computer software that helped them "game" financial markets by transacting thousands of times a second, effectively allowing them to short sell stock to ramp up profits by trading far faster than any human could manage.
Now, in case you're thinking that I'm some kind of of hippy socialist who loathes the concept of capitalism and free market enterprise, you'd be mistaken. I help run an engineering business. I like money. But, I also understand what "enough" means. Sure, being a multi-millionaire, or billionaire, is very cool. But how many rooms can you live in? How many houses can you simultaneously occupy? How many cars can you actually drive? There's a point at which the drive to become successful morphs into naked greed and the blind pursuit of excess. In a world where the gap between rich and poor is expanding at an alarming rate, the money farming being conducted by segments of "civilised" society is creating a polarising effect that is leading to deep social unrest across both the developed and developing worlds.
This polarisation is not just a case of the have nots having a temper tantrum and demanding access to wealth to which they have no right to. It's a symptom of a world that was built up from post-War economic demand for property and employment that first sought to meet the needs of soldiers returning from War who needed homes and jobs, and gradually morphed across a number of decades into the capital grab we see today. We've seen profit motive shut down vast swathes of industry across the west. Raw profit margins are frankly disgusting given the "downsize and make efficient" model employed by large corporates which has wiped out hundreds of thousands of jobs since the 1980's. Yes, a business needs to make a profit. But profit to the tune of billions while shutting down facilities and putting people on unemployment? Fuck off.
The issues are deeper and far more complex than can be covered in a single sitting. We've weaved a complex tapestry of expectation and demand that is slowly beginning to unravel as we begin to learn, globally, that the system we have built ourselves is unsustainable. We have destroyed the ability of many industries across the western world to provide jobs because we have built up shareholder value expectations that cannot co-exist with the practical demands of running a business versus producing a profit. The money is tied up in banks and metered out jealously across a very small segment of society with very little trickling down to grass roots, despite the rising demand from a growing population. Profit motive seeps into every aspect of our daily lives, driving up prices as the demand for returns dictates ever shrinking workforces and ever increasing prices from producer to retailer.
There HAS to be a point at which common sense will prevail. Profit can exist to a degree where people can earn good money from their investments, while more people can earn a liveable wage from an honest day's work. If this cannot happen, then we're going to be the unenviable position of being to watch our world unravel before our very eyes.
AIG, the wankers who spearheaded the 2008 financial collapse, are or were considering a lawsuit against the US government following the bailout of the firm. Some pundits claim that the suit is on "solid legal footing" as it will "test just how much the state can demand of a private entity in return for a financial bailout". The bailout cost the US $182 billion. And now they want to sue. Because they drowned themselves in toxic assets while pursuing easy profits. My response? Take a long walk off of a short pier.
This week, Goldman Sachs reversed a decision to postpone bonus pay outs in the UK to take advantage of a recent cut in top end tax rates. Mervyn King, governor of the UK Reserve Bank, called the move "depressing". GS, who also received a bailout to save themselves after loading up on toxic debt, are currently deep in the black, watching their profits soar. GS, interestingly enough, were also amongst the firms who invested heavily on computer software that helped them "game" financial markets by transacting thousands of times a second, effectively allowing them to short sell stock to ramp up profits by trading far faster than any human could manage.
Now, in case you're thinking that I'm some kind of of hippy socialist who loathes the concept of capitalism and free market enterprise, you'd be mistaken. I help run an engineering business. I like money. But, I also understand what "enough" means. Sure, being a multi-millionaire, or billionaire, is very cool. But how many rooms can you live in? How many houses can you simultaneously occupy? How many cars can you actually drive? There's a point at which the drive to become successful morphs into naked greed and the blind pursuit of excess. In a world where the gap between rich and poor is expanding at an alarming rate, the money farming being conducted by segments of "civilised" society is creating a polarising effect that is leading to deep social unrest across both the developed and developing worlds.
This polarisation is not just a case of the have nots having a temper tantrum and demanding access to wealth to which they have no right to. It's a symptom of a world that was built up from post-War economic demand for property and employment that first sought to meet the needs of soldiers returning from War who needed homes and jobs, and gradually morphed across a number of decades into the capital grab we see today. We've seen profit motive shut down vast swathes of industry across the west. Raw profit margins are frankly disgusting given the "downsize and make efficient" model employed by large corporates which has wiped out hundreds of thousands of jobs since the 1980's. Yes, a business needs to make a profit. But profit to the tune of billions while shutting down facilities and putting people on unemployment? Fuck off.
The issues are deeper and far more complex than can be covered in a single sitting. We've weaved a complex tapestry of expectation and demand that is slowly beginning to unravel as we begin to learn, globally, that the system we have built ourselves is unsustainable. We have destroyed the ability of many industries across the western world to provide jobs because we have built up shareholder value expectations that cannot co-exist with the practical demands of running a business versus producing a profit. The money is tied up in banks and metered out jealously across a very small segment of society with very little trickling down to grass roots, despite the rising demand from a growing population. Profit motive seeps into every aspect of our daily lives, driving up prices as the demand for returns dictates ever shrinking workforces and ever increasing prices from producer to retailer.
There HAS to be a point at which common sense will prevail. Profit can exist to a degree where people can earn good money from their investments, while more people can earn a liveable wage from an honest day's work. If this cannot happen, then we're going to be the unenviable position of being to watch our world unravel before our very eyes.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
arethusa:
Thank you
wolf:
thank you for your comment, it made me smile like this you're so sweet