I heard a good phrase today...about the terrible economic mess we are in...it described the mess as a process of "privatizing gains, socializing losses." Doesn't that just about say it all? Big oil ships dump their oil, we the public and the marine life take the losses; Enron declares bankruptcy amidst criminal charges, and it's employees lose their retirement; we go to war on false pretenses, Halburton gets rich, the American public bankrupts its children; banks act stupid, executives make lots of money, and now we bail them out. Privatizing gains, socializing losses.
can the American public get that? Or are we indeed a nation of (sorry Garrison Keillor) really below average people?
I'm practicing breathing in and breathing out...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Peg, of course you can also look at instances where individual losses are socialized.
Healthcare is a great example. Part of your hospital care cost is to pay for those who don't have insurance.
Credit is the same way, you pay an interest rate not only to borrow the money, but to cover the losses of the people who couldn't pay.
People have to deal with pollution induced asthma so others can get to where they're going faster.
Although the quote I received in my email was also telling: Corporation: n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. -Ambrose Bierce, author and editor (1842-1914)
Post a Comment