Like many Americans, I was shocked when I learned this week that AIG announced that executive bonuses were to be paid again. It seemed to me an extremely inappropriate use of the bailout funds that they were given. I thought that there was an agreement that bonuses like this could not be paid by companies receiving government bailouts. I guess I was wrong.
The more I thought about, the more I realized that it's none of my business. I tried to put myself in their shoes. Let's say that I receive an unemployment check. How would I feel if my neighbors criticized me for buying a pair of blue jeans with that money? "That's public money", they'd say. "That's inappropriate". From my perspective, I wouldn't think their argument made any sense, and besides, it's none of their business.
The truth of the matter is that we don't know what these executives did to earn these bonuses, and we don't know what they intend to do with them. The problem is that we are assuming the worst. We assume that they didn't do anything extraordinary to earn them. We assume that they'll use these bonuses for some extravagance to which we feel they may not be entitled. What if these executives are highly influential and critical to the business, responsible for the attraction of tens of millions of dollars in accounts for the company? What if these executives are sympathetic to the plight of their fellow Americans and donate a large portion of their bonuses to charities or jobs programs? That's a different mindset.
We just don't know all the facts, and even so, it's none of our business. Rather than vilifying AIG, or any other such company, let us hold the overseers accountable. It is our government's responsibility to ensure that our monies are being used appropriately. Let's not abdicate our responsibility to hold them accountable.
