Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008
Discuss???
Timesonline: After Lehman Brothers: desperate City wives
I find it very hard to feel sorry for these people. They had their opportunities for huge wealth, at the expense of prudence and the well-being of the whole, in their search for more and more. They knew what they were doing, while 'most' of us were and are innocent victims of the greed and avarice of the City. I know what I am saying will be attacked by some, but even they have to admit that this is a sad, pity filled article, maybe not for the author herself, but for all her (formerly) -rich friends. Good luck to them all finding new work in fields which add 'value' to society.
Posted by bystander @ 12:34 PM (487 views) Add Comment
10 Comments
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1. Fatjock said...
Discuss??? No need.
You reap what you sow, when times were good they didn't give a damn about us so why now should we care about them?
2. shipbuilder said...
This is nothing more than a description of the reality of unemployment that millions have faced over the decades, it could be argued sometimes caused by the grandstanding and greed of these people. However it's dressed up here as some great tragedy that only these unlucky few have experienced. Welcome to the real world - anyone with any sense would have stored up enough to retire on by now.
3. Squirrell27 said...
Boo hoo - my heart bleeds so much for these poor people. It is a nice thought that some of these parasites may have had most of their wealth wiped out by the fall of lehmans, but for the most part I suspect they got away scot free with their millions of dollars leaving shareholders holding the bag.
4. mark wadsworth said...
Schadenfreude! Sweet!
5. letthemfall said...
Those highly paid individuals deserve no sympathy. They have been paid a lot of money which bears no relation to their contribution to the wealth of society. As I've said before, their big incomes derive more from their position in an organisation that can divert a proportion of huge money flows into their pockets. And if after some years of these big payouts they still have nothing, that is their own fault. The wealth inequalities that have grown up over the last couple of decades is looking back to Edwardian times and before; except that now there is no notion of duty or the common good. With a bit of luck there will be some social good from this crisis.
6. wiltshire said...
Where to start? The seemingly endless greed of these investment bankers? The distortion within society that their ilk have caused? The crass stupidity of those who haven't safeguarded their families futures? Their ridiculous need to keep up with the Joneses? Their hollow attempts to try and gain sympathy from the rest of the public - who largely seem to be thinking "well you had it coming".
I think many of us feel the same way, as shipbuilder and letthemfall have mentioned above. And I think many of us see this as an opportunity for people to start connecting with themselves, their communities and the world at large rather than just connecting with credit cards and cash points.
7. beartil2010 said...
Yes;
FTBers being able to afford homes on more normal salaries, with a bit of saving, must be good;
People not being able to make enormous sums of money just by overleveraging themselves on mediocre properties must be good - moving people to more productive activities;
People learning to save some of their money and be self reliant must be good;
Maybe this will become a country where we can be proud and happy to live here again.
8. techieman said...
Before you all go into "they deserve it" mode - and yes for some of them you may well be right, the real issue is the little people. I personally know people in the administration departments that worked last week before the announcement until 1am,. got in a cab (admitedly paid for by the company) and then were back in work a long while before 8am. And no im not exagerating or making this up to prove a point. And for that they get what? Told that everything is ok on Friday (well of course the managment had to say that didnt they) then come monday morning they get told they are out on their ear, they have no redundancy and might not even be paid for the work they did in the last month.
So pushing the hi-flyers to one side various people who are at the lower to mid levels will have been stuffed. As moneyweek puts it
"The administrative staff at Lehman Brothers aren’t so fortunate. They’ll be leaving their jobs (and might not even get paid a penny in outstanding wages), only to face a job market where the number of positions is falling even as the number of people chasing them is rising."
And what if you have been with the bank for 10 years and (rightly or wrongly) this is all you know. Grace of god and all that.....
For there to be social good things must be torn down and re-built. That to my mind is inevitable, however expect quite a bit more pain rippling from banking to other industries before it settles. Who knows people that blog on here may even be employed in such industries.
9. shipbuilder said...
And before people start jumping to the smug moral high ground, I don't think anyone is rubbing their hands in glee at the bank going bust or the 'little' people losing their jobs.
This article is quite clearly melodramatic whinging, pondering decisions like having to sack the nanny or cancel the skiing trip, from people with probably more still invested than most will see in their entire lives. I was commenting on the article, as I suspect were the others.
10. sold out said...
i took my mum up the hospital to see her consultant about her chemo treatment today.I saw lots of dedicated, professional people who get paid a pittance compared to those in banking & finance.Sorry but I have nil symphathy for those that have lost their jobs in the city.
Is there any justice in our society?