Too Big
Tim Lasiuta
The argument goes something like this. Ford, internationally, cannot fail. The company employs thousands of people worldwide, has factories in scores of countries, and is able, through the large corporate structure, to manipulate markets, and transportation modes by changes in corporate policy. If we add the influence of Dodge, and GM, the total mass of their influence is gargantuan. Allow the companies to fail, and the snowball effect from engineers to mechanics to line workers to salesman and bookkeepers around the world will face (sigh) unemployment and have to live within their means.
Viewed in simple black and white, the consequence of their decisions seem to be obvious. The "average" worker asks the question, Why should we bail the big companies out from the results of poor marketing, poor design, and an apparent abandonment of supermileage vehicles? Look at the mechanics and line workers who make $100 per hour, and the executives who randomly earn millions of dollars per year on the front financial line while we fund their decision making process. Let them fall, and from the ashes, a company based on vehicles that consumers want, vehicles that meet their needs and adequately address environmental concerns will rise.
Let's look at the investment houses like Bear Stearns. They all served to advance the world's stock exchanges profits and speculator gains. As destinations of choice for investment funds from the richest of the rich, the pension funds of the working class, and speculators playing games with markets, these houses ensured lavish lifestyles and outrageous earnings for a privileged few. With products as risky as hedge funds, their profits bordered on obscene and bonus structures irresponsible. If we add Citibank, Wachovia, and WaMu to the mix along with the 207 (and counting) banks to the list of lost or bailed out, once again, the cumulative effect is staggering.
Insurance companies? We can't forget AIG and the incredible world-wide corporate structure they built up.
Mortgage companies? Fannie Mae and Fanny Mac held an impressive 50% of all US mortgages and even prior to their engulfment by the Government bailout. They were started with federal money. They were "saved" with government money. Good money after bad?
What's next on the list is an appropriate question. GM was approved as a bank to access federal TARP funds. Amex was also approved to operate as a bank, as well as a giant credit card company. Last year, even Wal-Mart tested the waters with a banking arm. In Canada, Superstore operates their own branded bank, and the Bank of Montreal and Safeway have a comfortable arrangement too.
The list keeps on growing. Financial difficulties have put as many as 25 states on the brink of financial ruin. Some states are even going as far as to lease their publicly held lands to private operators to generate funds. Others, just may impose a higher income tax or charge income tax for the first time.
When will this end?
$700B was the initial promised amount, but plans for the funds changed as soon as they were approved! Now, not even $700B will do, as the total will probably top $10 trillion after every hand has reached out for "help".
The puritan founders of the United States would be up in arms. Good financial planners are tearing their hair out. The financially responsible among us are shaking their collective heads. Yet those whose future has been sold to maintain the upper echelon whose decisions put the United States and those who trade with her in distress, have no say in such a monumental action. Make no mistake though, governments around the world are entering the same arena with near reckless abandon as well.
There was a time when actions had consequences. Perform poorly at a job, and risk the loss of your employment. Talk back to a teacher, or parent, and the resulting punishment left a lasting reminder of your transgression. Lie, and the consequence of your deception could be stinging. Corporate theft...don't even think about it. Good personal conduct was a matter of pride, while disrespectful and lewd behaviour led to dire consequences.
That was then, this is now. If we consider the moral implications of the example that has been set. "Too big to fail" is merely a government/societal approved excuse for mediocrity and entrenched irresponsibility. "Too big to fail" is a rationale that extends to the most basic level in our world. We could even rephrase the mantra as "Too afraid to accept responsibility", "Too afraid to tell the truth" , "Too big to face the truth", or "Too big to do the right thing". In actuality, that may even be the deepest level of the Mondo Mantra.
The truth is that our actions DO have consequences. From birth to death, every action we perform, every word we utter, affects someone. Modern society, with all our diversity and "freedom", cannot change that fact. "Too Big to fail" is merely one more step towards the great chasm between truth and the great lie. The great flip flop from "Truth" to "Lie" and "best" to "better", and "responsibility" to "denial" is almost invisible except when the chips are down, and the facts come to light. Somewhere along the way, we, as world citizens, have allowed consequence/morality based decision making to be replaced by an outcome model that ignores the absolutes.
Another big question that arises out of the worldwide financial crises is "at what point are executives, CEO's, CFO's, politicians, and business men NOT responsible for their decisions? Is a publicly held company less responsible or more responsible? Are world "class" leaders above consequences for their decisions? If they cannot be held responsible and accountable for their deeds and misdeeds, who can be?
In a world that has seen great world leaders in politics, business, religion, and education, much can be learned from those through time who have not shirked their responsibility and accepted both praise and contempt for their actions. The bold examples of those who stood up to tyranny for the sake of justice, those who stood up to religious persecution in the name of Faith, those who opposed contemptuous regimes and "movements", those who fought the good fight until the battle was won, they will always be the true heroes of our age.
Historians will look back at this event with sadness in their eyes and shake their heads. To paraphrase a popular movie line. "We could have been contenders."
May God help us in our weakness, inspite of our foolishness.
Tim Lasiuta
309 Overdown Dr
Red Deer, Alberta
T4P 1W8
403-340-8215