It's Time to Stop Rewarding Bad Behavior

All of the yelling about the AIG bonuses, and the multiple abuses of the system by executives at that company and dozens of other companies (can you say "O-I-L"?) in recent years won't die down any time soon, and with good reason: the American people "have had it up to here" with rewarding bad behavior, one of the more dubious hallmarks of the past eight years. Time was, if you did something wrong, you bore the consequences of your actions. Lately, if you were crafty enough, rich enough, and had the right friends in the right places, you could get away with almost anything. Finally, the people in this country are standing up and saying "ENOUGH!"

It's about time.

Once upon a time in America, when you screwed up and did a lousy job, you paid the price (whatever the price was) for your failure: if you owned a business, and times got tough for the business, you, as the business owner, took a hit. Employees were generally spared, and at least kept their jobs, albeit stagnantly, and the boss went home at the end of the week with a lighter envelope. Gradually, it has become the norm that the lowest level workers are the ones to pay the price for any economic calamities, which those at the top continue to collect their princely sums unabated.

Part of this problem is the rise of the corporation as a legal entity: not only did the creation of corporations serve to distribute risk and expand investment, it also waived away liability of individuals -- real people -- and put responsibility on the amorphous corporation. Then, the corporation is punished for wrongdoing, but the punishment meted out is usually monetary in some fashion, and the real wrongdoers -- the real people running the corporation -- are left unscathed, and eventually, their malfeasance and misfeasance is repeated because the punishment did not fall on them. They learned nothing. When a small child ignores warnings and touches a hot stove, learning immediately takes place. Most executives in corporate America could sit on a hot stove and come away with nothing but scorched trousers.

Since we are on a warpath here, calling for reform, here's an idea: Maybe we ought to abolish the corporation. Eliminate it, and return to personal responsibility and individual liability.

It works with hot stoves.


March 26, 2009.

Copyright © 2009, Ricky A. Pursley. All rights reserved.

Hi, I'm Ignorant, and This Bumper Sticker of Mine Proves It

March 21, 2009: Boy, are all those wingnuts over on the far right freaking out now. Here's a sampling of their latest patriotic fervor, from an email I got the other day (yes, checking on what they are up to is part of the territory). These are actual bumper stickers that are for sale to help fill the coffers of the "Oh-My-God-America-Won't-Be-Lilly-White-Much-Longer" set:

B.A.I.L.O.U.T. Bums Accepting Illicit Loot -- Obama Underwriting Theft!

OBAMA-NOMICS: The "Change" I Have Left After Paying Your Bills.

WORK HARDER Democrats Want To Spend Your Money!

SOCIALISM: "CHAINS" WE CAN'T AFFORD

TRAUMA [featuring a faux-Obama logo]

COMRADE OBAMA U.S.S.A. "CHANGE WE CAN'T AFFORD"

YOUR "FAIR SHARE" IS NOT IN MY WALLET!

got a birth certificate? [featuring a faux-Obama logo]

Obama bin Lyin' IMPEACH NOW!

LOVE Your Country . . . FEAR Your Government!

GIVE ME LIBERTY NOT A BAILOUT

January 20, 2009 THE BEGINNING OF AN ERROR

BRING HOME OUR TROOPS! SEND THE DEMOCRATS!

OBAMA LIED . . . THE ECONOMY DIED

1.20.2013 OBAMA'S LAST DAY

RUSH IS RIGHT LIMBAUGH 2012

$ GO GREEN $ ABOLISH THE IRS

PIECE-KEEPERS KEEP THE PEACE [featuring an image of a semi-automatic handgun]

I VOTED FOR A HERO NOT A HANDOUT

CONSERVATIVE IN EXILE

GOD'S GIVEN US A SAVIOR I'M LOOKING FOR A PRESIDENT

O NO! THE PRESIDENT?


It is of course, nearly impossible to think of a collection of slogans that could be more desperate in their message or their creation.

Oh, and keep in mind, these people are self-styled "patriots."

Talk about helping the terr'ists win.