FINANCIAL SERVICES EMPLOYEE BONUSES AND THE MILITARY
There has been no recent mention of reinstituting the military draft. But as America is increasing its troop deployment in Afghanistan and the men and women in our armed forces are becoming fatigued after many rotations in combat, one cannot help but wonder if someone will propose it in the future.
My feeling is that this is no longer a country where anyone should be expected to risk their life against their will for what a Serviceperson is paid. The men who brought the economy of the nation to it knees continue to enjoy salaries where just their BONUSES are in the multi-million dollar range. The average taxpayer, the "common man," is paying for these with fees extracted upon his invested hard-earned retirement savings and with taxes to bail out the companies those executives ran into debt. Contributing nothing to society, celebrities like Paris Hilton lead luxurious lifestyles just for being the shallow, self-indulgent creatures they are.
It is clear that the only thing that matters in this country now is money. Racked by the financial crisis created by unscrupulous financial executives like those at Goldman Sachs, California is struggling with a budget deficit that approximates 40 Billion dollars and is hard pressed to continue to provide services. At the same time, Goldman Sachs gives 11 billion dollars to its employees -- the same people responsible for the crisis-- as bonuses . It is difficult to not feel that we now have two classes in this country-- the incredibly rich, who remain so no matter what they do, and everyone else--- the "common man" or masses.
Without the common man, the rich would have no security or freedom, but they see the masses as just a source of income. Lacking any sense of shame or what one could call natural morality, the very rich see only dollars and cents, winners and losers. On the scale of losers, clearly the biggest loser would be the lower or middle class young person who dies fighting a war half way around the world. The odds of Al Qaeda ever attacking their home or place of work is vanishingly small, but they put themselves in harm's way to serve and protect the country they love. In the "postmodern world," as some term our current era, such feelings are misguided. One cannot help but imagine one of these rich executives popping open the $500 bottle of wine he is accustomed to enjoying each evening and chuckling as he reads of how many Service men and women died that week. "What suckers those kids are." he says to himself. "The lower classes are so stupid."
If concepts of sacrifice for the common good, service and loyalty are a thing of the past, then a military draft has no basis in reason. If money is all that matters and supply and demand is the law of the universe, then it should apply to soldering as well. If few people want a job that includes fighting an unseen enemy in 130 degree heat, then raise the salary until more do. If working at Goldman Sachs is so stressful that 1000 of their employees each deserve $1 million bonuses, then how much should a soldier, who could be killed by a roadside bomb each day, be paid? Would $200,000 a year be a fair salary for a typical soldier in combat? I would think so.
There has been no recent mention of reinstituting the military draft. But as America is increasing its troop deployment in Afghanistan and the men and women in our armed forces are becoming fatigued after many rotations in combat, one cannot help but wonder if someone will propose it in the future.
My feeling is that this is no longer a country where anyone should be expected to risk their life against their will for what a Serviceperson is paid. The men who brought the economy of the nation to it knees continue to enjoy salaries where just their BONUSES are in the multi-million dollar range. The average taxpayer, the "common man," is paying for these with fees extracted upon his invested hard-earned retirement savings and with taxes to bail out the companies those executives ran into debt. Contributing nothing to society, celebrities like Paris Hilton lead luxurious lifestyles just for being the shallow, self-indulgent creatures they are.
It is clear that the only thing that matters in this country now is money. Racked by the financial crisis created by unscrupulous financial executives like those at Goldman Sachs, California is struggling with a budget deficit that approximates 40 Billion dollars and is hard pressed to continue to provide services. At the same time, Goldman Sachs gives 11 billion dollars to its employees -- the same people responsible for the crisis-- as bonuses . It is difficult to not feel that we now have two classes in this country-- the incredibly rich, who remain so no matter what they do, and everyone else--- the "common man" or masses.
Without the common man, the rich would have no security or freedom, but they see the masses as just a source of income. Lacking any sense of shame or what one could call natural morality, the very rich see only dollars and cents, winners and losers. On the scale of losers, clearly the biggest loser would be the lower or middle class young person who dies fighting a war half way around the world. The odds of Al Qaeda ever attacking their home or place of work is vanishingly small, but they put themselves in harm's way to serve and protect the country they love. In the "postmodern world," as some term our current era, such feelings are misguided. One cannot help but imagine one of these rich executives popping open the $500 bottle of wine he is accustomed to enjoying each evening and chuckling as he reads of how many Service men and women died that week. "What suckers those kids are." he says to himself. "The lower classes are so stupid."
If concepts of sacrifice for the common good, service and loyalty are a thing of the past, then a military draft has no basis in reason. If money is all that matters and supply and demand is the law of the universe, then it should apply to soldering as well. If few people want a job that includes fighting an unseen enemy in 130 degree heat, then raise the salary until more do. If working at Goldman Sachs is so stressful that 1000 of their employees each deserve $1 million bonuses, then how much should a soldier, who could be killed by a roadside bomb each day, be paid? Would $200,000 a year be a fair salary for a typical soldier in combat? I would think so.
