True story. One morning on vacation last week, my wife and I were watching the “Today” show on TV. In one segment, a commentator was standing on the floor of a commodities exchange, traders all around him. He bellowed in apparent outrage about the new federal mortgage-relief program. He said, in essence, that this is America, and in America we shouldn’t help those who’ve gotten in over their heads and found themselves foreclosed.
(I wondered whether, in his America, we also shouldn’t help those who’ve found themselves without food, health care or jobs—but that’s another blog post for another day.)
After breakfast, we drove our old rental car across the island on a back road. We passed fancy vacation villas, a small beachfront park, an aging elementary school, lots of run-down cinder-block houses and a shack that served as a tavern.
At the eastern end of the road, we saw an old boat perched on a rusting trailer. There were holes in the boat’s hull. The paint was peeling. There was no sign of a motor or sails.
On the aft port side, in a fading scrolling script, the name of the boat was still visible. Its moniker:
Corporate Greed.
Does that float your boat?
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Bruce, you paint pictures and touch hearts with your words. I miss chatting with you, and love to read your blog postings. Hope you and the kids are well.
Bruce… the photographer in me lusts for images like that, rich visual metaphors… you will have to give me directions.
Reminds me of the abandoned, rusty gas station here that’s located on Prosperity Drive.
Was that christening a prophecy or a judgment? One wonders.
Hi Bruce,
In essence, that is not what he said.
If you actually listen to more than a sound bite you would realize he is not a person without compassion. He was not talking about those truly disadvantaged.
He was talking about those who have treated their homes as an ATM machine to live way beyond their means. Living in a home they couldn’t afford, driving cars they couldn’t afford, doing remodeling they couldn’t afford, taking vacations they couldn’t afford. Not saving or sacrificing for their children’s college education - just always taking out a bigger mortgage. While others have saved and sacrificed.
He’s saying why play by the rules if others are just going to walk away from their responsibilities and leave the rest of us holding the bag? Why don’t we all stop paying our mortgages?
Nobody should go hungry or go without a roof over their head. He’s not saying that. He’s expressing the frustration of the majority who have taken personal responsibility for their decisions versus others that are capable of taking responsibility but haven’t.
There is plenty of blame to go around for this mess including disgusting corporate greed and mortgage brokers with no moral compass. That still doesn’t absolve people from some level of accountability.
True story? Not really. Not the way you paraphrased it. It’s not that simple.
Hi, Bruce.
I presume you’re talking about Rick Santelli of CNBC. The quote is pretty inaccurate and taken out of context.
Be that as it may, your point regarding the sick and hungry is an interesting one and I’m not sure that anyone has an answer to it. I can assure you, however, that government bailouts is not the answer.
The question becomes one of morality and, although it seems like letting the government move in on helping those in need is a viable solution, I pose the following question to you: What happens when government is incapable of providing food, shelter, medicine or anything else? We needn’t look any further than the UK, Canada and France, yes the almighty France for defunct health care. The only true solution is to let people live their lives as they see fit, without Big Brother telling us what to do.
You did hit the nail on the head with your assessment of greed though. Too bad you didn’t also point out the greed of government under both the Bush and Clinton administrations that got us into this mess. Corporate America is going down in flames. That’s for sure. Big Brother lit the match.