AIG executives are "not going to bleed to death because I'm not sure that they've got blood. I think it's ice water that runs through their veins," said Gary Jarvis of Herron, Ill., who lost his job as a forklift driver in a factory closing two years ago. "To me, it's just stunning to think they're not even ashamed of their disgusting greed."
As opposed to the common sort of greed of your run-of-the-mill investor? Of course not.
This populist sentiment is a lie. The money game has two simple rules: Everyone is in the game to make money and
no one says no to money. To compete you must get as many sad sacks as you can to give you as much of their money as they can. Yes, you must scam them. In fact, you're being scammed. The whole game's a scam and that AIG guy who got that check for a million dollars is you. Well, not really you, but he too has to pay for the car, the house, the kids, and the gym membership. Granted, his bills are much larger, but, just like you, he lies to his wife to keep the peace, and, just like you, he lies to himself...and his students...about the definition of competency:
"It's difficult to comprehend how screwing up gets you rewards," said George Padilla, a teacher in El Paso, Texas. "I tell my students that if they don't put in the effort and get passing grades, I will not pass them." He added: "I use the old `In the real world ...' line to point out that you would be fired if you didn't do well in your job. Well, I guess `the real world' proved me wrong."
Har har har. I guess it did. Maybe the lesson will stick this time.
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