In the Great Depression, unemployment outstripped what we have going now, but at some point between here and there people started acting crazy–well, not crazy, but out of character for a fairly docile nation–subscribing to a long list of radical ideas to solve the problem and acting out/protesting/rioting. I keep wondering when we might get there in the present crisis, or if we might get there. I also wonder if AIG might be the thing that pushes us there. I’ve already run into more than my fair amount of people who view the bailout as charity for billionaires, and this latest development isn’t going to change anyone’s minds.

It does seem increasingly odd that the Geithnerites would fail to exercise any of their considerable leverage over AIG to terminate those benefits, which would involve those on the receiving end volunteering to give them up rather than breaking the contract, on the theory that the company might never see another dime if they took them. It’s difficult not to conclude what many have said already: that Geithner and pals are too close to the self-entitled financial class to fight for the rest of us.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 11:32 am and is filed under Idle Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.