In human interactions, there’s nothing like an enemy – a casual face to a problem. With AIG, the outrage at the bonuses is hitting a high fever pitch. In fact, the outrage is seemingly out of whack for the offense versus far more costly and troubling issues like Health Care, the entire bail out situation, public school system failures, and ending the war/getting out. Where’s our outrage on those bigger, costlier issues? Why is it not as great?
There’s no one to blame.
With AIG, it’s easy. Point your fingers at the big bad execs who took the bonuses and/or gave them out. Those are the bad guys. Right?
What I can’t figure out yet is WHY we need to have an iconic enemy. Why does having a face to a problem seem to spur stronger reactions?
Or, maybe this is just my own bias.
Must think on this.
However, I still find it very inconsistent that people are this concerned about $165 million when we’ve blown $2 trillion and still haven’t handled some pretty important issues.
