by Heidi Delane

Created on: December 23, 2008

Apathy and Nepotism Cause 2008 Recession

Although the bailout headlines and weekly Wallstreet crashes are sucking at the spotlight on the evening news, another evil still infects the very fabric of capitalism in America today. The insect encouraging the loss of over 500,000 jobs so far in the 4th quarter postings could possibly be a product of something much more insidious than the corruption of Fannie Mae, the issues of the auto industry, or the Ponzi schemes plotted and executed on our forefather's sacred land. After all, it is actual people, yes, living, breathing people, who planned and pretended and looked the other way while the American middle class was being robbed of their futures, cheated out of 401k's and bilked out of faith in humanity. What kind of disease could cause such malice?

Astonishingly, many of the "human beings" who were, have been, and still are in charge of the many governing agencies, corporations and privately funded organizations all across this great land of ours are guilty of business apathy. There, I've said it!

Some of the major decision makers have bought their way up the corporate ladder with family money and name, expensive graduate degrees, and sometimes by default or more rarely, actually earning their way to the top. The difficulty is that those in charge are often guilty of knowingly running organizations into the ground, to the despair of stock holders and the dismay of Boards of Directors. And yet they still hold the corner office despite not performing. They still profit personally from the financial disasters they themselves create. And yet those in charge choose to do nothing.

The lack of performance at the top idly trickles down the ladder and allows for workers to sense and mirror the same apathy at the top. Fat cat managers applaud inappropriate behavior such as sexual harassment, discrimination and general lack of responsibility and good customer service in favor of employees who talk on their cell phones while ringing up a consumer purchase, or the "friend" of the manager who has a title and paycheck but no known responsibilities. How is this continually allowed in this country, historically from the President of the United States all the way down to the manager of the local convenience store?

Truthfully, it has been allowed for as many decades as a Board of Directors, Congress, or Association has turned a blind eye to the General Manager lining his pockets with kickbacks, turning their backs on sexual harassment

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