Letter to a Friend

Here's a letter I sent to my friend and mentor after he wrote a "rant" about how people expect not to be working or paying their debt in this society. To paraphrase, he said that in his travels, people would give him a blank stare as to the "age-old idea" of working to pay down debt and a mortgage on a house.

I said that with the role models we have today in business and politics--as well as entertainment venues--why should we possibly feel any differently? Why should the unemployed feel less entitled than the CEO paid millions because he is part of the "club." Why should a squeezed-out middle class not feel entitled? I don't personally believe this, but here is my response. Please feel free to comment:

XXX,

Great rant, but what do you expect with a Federal Government bought and sold by corporate America, hence, Wall Street.

The public sees not only executives in private business get WAY MORE money right now than the people who produce (i.e. middle class) but a Fed that not only dipped its toes into the "Moral Hazard" pool but drenched itself in it. Those FED executives also have WAY MORE money than any bright thinkers beneath them in a self-substantiated hierarchy.

I just heard that some "higher-ups" brought down the quality of security analysis in favor of quantity. Therefore, the Federal Government risks the American people's security for its own prosperity. The Federal Government risks the economy by not repealing Glass-Steagall so that it can earn more for themselves.

Geniuses!

Those executives in the Fed also get WAY MORE income than their staff.

Let's not fool ourselves as to why you're seeing those blank stares out there:

1. Yale graduates are not finding jobs with the steep competition out there;
2. DirectTV managers are getting laid off (two anectdotal accounts from different sides of the education spectrum);
3. State and local budget cuts mean more layoffs and a deteriorating education system;
4. Nobody sees this because we're all staring at blackberries or iPhones and texting people (I don't, by the way);
5. An extend/pretend system and market manipulations that attempt to keep big banks, Wall Street and bankers from failing.

Who's really getting a free-ride from the government? Therefore, how can you blame these people for wanting their share of the Socialist pie? They earn less than the saved bank executives we see everyday--all part of the CEO club that won't likely to go hungry.

Sorry if I'm on a soapbox, but I see friends who won't get credit because banks won't lend unless they're top of the line; I see hard-working people now out of work; I see people who are working completely overworked because of fewer resources and smaller margins; and, I see CEOs and/or executives inside and outside of the Federal Government getting WAY MORE than they're worth.

Believe me, it's worse now than ever before and it's this widening income/credit gap that will do more to ruin this country than the people who won't pay their bills. They're screwed already. Blame the Treasury Secretary who feels entitled enough not to pay his taxes and then becomes...what...TREASURY SECRETARY!

Sorry...I had to rant myself.