Disagree

by Steve Burden

Created on: October 12, 2011

Executives of bankrupt companies should not be paid any bonus. If they have been on a 5 or 6 figure salary, they already have a very comfortable lifestyle. If, on their watch, the company goes through hard times, they should be willing to take a pay cut in order to support the workers whose share in the company's profits are so much smaller than their own.

How an individual in the company is treated when he makes a mistake depends on how far up the pay-grade ladder he is. If he is on the bottom rung of the ladder, he will likely lose his job. In stark contrast, if the guilty party is a top executive, it would not be a surprise to read in the newspaper that he has been awarded a generous bonus!

That this kind of thing goes on is perhaps unavoidable, but such inequality fuels frustration and anger among those whose protesting voice is conveniently ignored. An average worker has to work for years to earn the kind of money some top executives can receive - even for doing their job badly. The French Revolution was the outcome of pent-up frustration felt by workers who's taxes appeared to support the luxurious lifestyle of the aristocracy. It is hard not to feel that history is repeating itself. How companies can justify paying out such bonuses is difficult to understand. It is like a Bus Driver crashing his Bus, injuring a few passengers, causing damage to the street, closing the road for a few hours, and then being awarded a bonus equal to 10 year's pay. 

Company executives should not be rewarded for killing the company they ran. Where is the logic? Those working with and money, manage to keep for themselves a special 'rainy day' fund just so as to keep themselves dry in bad weather. In the safe but unreal world of board games, this is called cheating! In the real world it appears to the lower-paid masses, as serious fraud. To executives themselves, it is just the way it is. 

Bankrupt Companies should not have access to funds set aside or ring-fenced to pay off their own executives when disaster strikes. The principle of doing business assumes the proper use of available funds. Paying off executives when they have failed is an improper use of funds.

After the disaster of the Titanic, the company managers conceded that the Titanic's life-saving appliances were "woefully inadequate". The Titanic has become a monument to bold human endeavour gone wrong. When life-saving appliances are in short supply there is wild panic as people grab what they can before the inevitable. In the case of bankrupt companies, executives misuse their position if their response to trouble is ensuring their own survival. If the company is going down, and executives, having access to some 'rope', choose to rescue only themselves, their actions are unbelievably selfish.

Socialism may not be the answer, but unbridled capitalism has proved itself to be a toxic brew. There is a hint of impending gloom as if the date of an angry local derby game approaches. The under-dogs far outnumber the 'over-paid' dogs! The ref will have no chance. A whistle is worthless in the face of the gathering storm of injustice and greed.

Money equals power, but money so unequally distributed results in an imbalance of power that threatens the stability of nations. Martin Luther King had a dream about equality. History owes so much to visionaries like him. In our financially troubled time, a whistle may not be of any use in restoring order. A dream might just inspire a hope that a greater degree of fairness will prevail. A prayer that calls on God to have mercy on our time, may be our last resort! Oh, that He may give wisdom, and grant business leaders and executives compassion in this time of shameless greed. 

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