AIG - New Meaning

Once again AIG, American International Group, has come under criticism, and justly so, for awarding hefty bonuses to executives when the firm is in such dire financial conditions, including to those who made decisions that has brought AIG to the doorstep of bankruptcy. If the bonuses must be paid, let them be paid in AIG stock.

AIG and its executives are appropriate symbols of the horrendous shortcomings of a poorly regulated American financial system. Its initials are taking on new meaning. “A” could readily stand for any of these…appalling, aristocratic, atrocious or arrogant.

“I” could readily stand for any of these terms….impassive, immoral, ignoble, imperial, impenitent, indifferent, or insufferable

“G” could stand for…. gamblers, greed, or gluttony.

In my view, AIG now stands for Arrogant Ignoble Greed. What does AIG represent for you?

Arrogant Ignoble Greed is a company in disrepute and though there are those who argue that it is too big to fail, no company should be too big to fail. AIG should be pushed into bankruptcy, with its salvageable parts sold off. The firm’s ignoble leadership should be dismissed in disgrace and left to defending themselves in the law courts against those who will sue them for various their misrepresentations and actions.

Shameless Leadership Vs. Upright Leadership

Last week, after one month in office as the CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain who spent $1.2 million to redecorate his office, resigned. One of the items was a $1,400 trash can.

Like candy Mr. Thain generously passed out $3 to 4 million in “performance” bonuses last month to top executives of his failing company being taken over by Bank of America in January. Merrill Lynch was being taken over by Bank of America as part of a government rescue plan to keep Merrill Lynch from closing. How in the world can Thain justify “performance” bonuses when his company is bankrupted and is in need of rescuing?

In contrast, kudos go to President Obama and his Cabinet for freezing the salaries of the Cabinet and other major officials in his administration. Those impacted by the freeze were not caught by surprise as each came into office knowing the freeze would be taking place. Their actions stands in stark contrast to corporate executives who have been reaping and even legally raping their corporations with their huge salaries, benefits and golden parachutes while their companies financial foundation became increasingly perilous.

While in the grand scheme of the whole budget, the freeze makes no significant monetary difference, Obama and his team have made a grand statement to country. They know that a little here, a little there and all the little something elses add up. They are also telling us that they are there to serve their fellow citizens and the country ahead of their own gain. As they call people and the nation to sacrifice, the nation can be assured that Obama and his administration are leading by example. They have the moral ground upon which to issue the call to sacrifice.

President Obama and Mr. Thain stand in contrast to one another. The one understands type of leadership we need, the other serves an the prime example of the leadership we do not need and which got hundreds of companies and this nation in difficulty. One is working hard to undo the damage of the actions of the other while the other greedily keeps the gravy train going as long as possible. One is the example of moral leadership, the other an example of a bankrupt and shameless leader. One gets it, the other does not.

Hoard Mentality and Seed of Evil Acts

The day after American Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday is the kick-off to the holiday shopping season. Stores open extra early with deep discounts on dated items and good discounts on many current items. People line-up two or three hours before the doors open to buy the deeply discounted items. When doors open there can be for some box stores a thousand to two-thousand people in line. For the Canadian reader, Black Friday rush is similar to the Boxing Day rush and sales.

This year, one week ago today, a Wal-Mart employee on Long Island was trampled to death. I do not know how widely the story has been covered so let me give a quick synopsis. When the doors open one of the employees who was assigned to the doors was knocked down by the frenzied crowd out to fight each other for the bargain items inside. No one stopped to help him up. No one stopped to guide others around him to allow him to have an opportunity to right himself. Instead, as the employee lay on the floor, the heard kept pushing forward over him to literally trample him to death.

In the coming weeks lawsuits will be filed against Wal-Mart…and rightly so for not giving the proper training and having employees work in pairs. There is some general faulting in the press of the nebulous “hoard” and how shameful that group of people acted. That said, what bothers me the most is that little attention is being given to taken moving beyond the general group.

This group of people, the hoard, are not rabble rousers. They are our neighbors, those we worship with on Sunday, our family and co-workers. They are me. They are you. Our press and our society not willing to acknowledge that reality scars me as it is a failure to recognize the acts to which each of us is capable. In a sense, this event in New York, we see dynamics at play that have put in place the foundation for normal good natured individuals to behave differently in a crowd and thereby engage in destructive acts. It reminds us that within each of us rests selfishness, greed and a mindlessness that can cause us to turn a blind eye to cruelty or to helping one who is need.

It reminds us that when a Good Samaritan is needed most that such a compassionate individual is not as common as we would think. It reminds those who like to think they would be a Good Samaritan and love their neighbor that they may not act that way if they allow themselves to be carried along by the crowd. They too could readily be carried along by their own selfish goals or acquiesce to the hoard mentality.

I like to think I would stop to help, that I would break with the hoard to help my neighbor. Yet this incident causes me to wonder, to look inward and question. I am forced to conclude that the seed of what happened at the Wal-Mart does not rest in the distant “out there” or with the nebulous “them.” Rather, it rests in me…that is sobering to say the least.