Political Blog: Corporate Bonuses
By melcene 37 Comments
So this came up in part because of that capitalism vs. socialism thread, and in part simply because it happened the other day.
I work at one of the larger law firms in the Seattle area. On Friday we had our big firm-wide Christmas party. At said party, someone (a partner or shareholder or something, I'm not sure who) received one of those golf-tournament type checks (the oversized check they have to stick on an easel, but these checks represent real checks for same amount). This check was supposed to represent this guy's bonus for the year. Ready for it?
Now, we're a private firm. We're not subsidized by the government. We don't receive bailouts. Our income comes from our clients or private donations. This should mean that people wouldn't have a problem with someone getting such a bonus, because that money didn't come out of their pockets at all. The problem is, in the US, people of low to middle income who don't ever see themselves reaching those heights find it unfair that someone else has reached those heights and is being rewarded for it. It has nothing to truly do with where the $300k came from. It's simply about "It's not fair."
Part of the reason we have this problem is that the "It's Not Fair's" start as children now, and rather than the children being told "sometimes life isn't fair" or that the other child worked harder to earn that star on their paper, or sometimes shit happens and life just sucks... Instead we make it so that teachers can't even use red pens to mark papers anymore because getting a red mark on a paper to show that you answered incorrectly "isn't fair." So children learn early on that everything should be treated equally, even if it's not fair to those who work harder. And now that's expected in the work place. The guy who's spent 20 years or more climbing the ladder should only be making $50k a year because otherwise, "That's not fair."
People need to learn that sometimes life just isn't fair. And then sometimes you are the recipient of something really awesome that maybe you didn't deserve. Call it karma, call it whatever. But learn to deal with it. Worry about yourself, and where you're going in life and not the other kid in class and what they're doing.
Damn right I hope to be the person up on that stage getting a bonus like that sometime down the road.