Alien Life Forms

by digby

Driftglass ponders Jake DeSantis:

I genuinely feel for Mr. DeSantis, but I also have to wonder from what solar system he originally hails that he has come to this moment in history so deaf to the tone and tenor of our country and our times.

Or was he perhaps raised in captivity in the Context-Oblivious wing of some life-sized Habitrail cultural petting zoo, shielded from the unhappy knowledge that millions of people in this country are worked like rented mules by carnivorous employers every day for wages that wouldn’t cover the interest on his bonus. Unaware that year in and year out, boom or bust, in every season since forever and through no fault of their own, tens of thousands of the working poor — who toil at incredibly hard jobs for shitty pay — are summarily kicked to the curb without a second thought because their employers made bad decisions, or got unlucky, or could get someone cheaper, or wanted someone prettier or younger or more sexually compliant, or just didn’t like the way they parted their hair that day.

There’s more…

I would love to see some data on how people see this kind of thing. It’s possible that I’m off base, but I suspect that beyond the working poor and the blue collar guys that Drifty mentions in his piece, women and minorities are also gobsmacked at the shocked reaction of these well paid executives at having to put up with screaming congressmen and an angry public over their bonuses. In the unglamorous, everyday world of work that most of us spend our lives in, the idea of having to feel sorry for someone who is being asked to return half of his $750,000 bonus at a time when his company just registered the largest corporate loss in history is ludicrous. Many people get furloughed and left with nothing everyday for reasons far less compelling than a massively failed company.

It’s not that I can’t see why this person would be upset at being swept up in the anger at those in his division who caused all these problems. I can see why he would resent being asked to give up money he believes he earned with the sweat of his brow working 12 hours a day. What I can’t understand is why he would think that anyone besides the handful of people at the very top would be particularly sympathetic with his plight at a time like this. He’s not losing his house. He’s not even losing his job. He’s obviously already a millionaire many times over if he can afford to give the money to charity. The righteous anger he expressed in his column may even be justified, but it is a very high class problem that 99% of the people in this country would love to have right now.

He is speaking from pride, which I understand on a human level, but which is an immensely insensitive, stupid thing to do in this environment. I guess what continues to surprise me about it is that these guys are supposed to be smart and they’re being so dumb. In fact, it isn’t pride — it’s hubris. And that’s the essence of the problem with our nation’s ruling class.

Update: Emptywheel reports on the Geithner hearing:

Joe Donnelly asked Tim Geithner whether we ought to eliminate naked default swaps. Geithner said that it’s too hard to distinguish hedges from gambling. Donnelly pointed out that we’re taking money out of truck drivers’ pockets and waitress’ pockets to pay off Wall Street’s gambling debts. Ultimately, though, Geithner said we don’t need to–and that it would be very hard to–do that. I guess the truck drivers will still be asked to pay off rich men’s gambling debts.

Update II: Just saw this from cartoonist David Rees, via Atrios:

And mind you, when I received these threats, I wasn’t working in some high-security office building and living in a fancy gated community with no sidewalks where you need a passcode just to go to the golf course. Hardly. I was a schlub in a bathrobe living in a third-story Brooklyn walk-up. The only way I could’ve been a softer target would be if I was made out of Yoplait. And I wasn’t exactly getting paid millions of dollars for my troubles, either. I was temping part-time for $20/hour and GIVING ALL MY GODDAMN MONEY AWAY, because it was post-9/11 America and we were all supposed to pull together and chip in for the common good. Remember when? My God, though — if I had been making that sweet AIG money, not only would I have happily endured a few more death threats, I WOULD HAVE ACTIVELY LET PEOPLE TRY TO KILL ME. Pay me $700,000 a year, or however much the AIG guy whining in today’s New York Times made, and you can threaten me with death all goddamn day. Because do you have any idea how much money that is??? Hell, I’ll let you throw rocks at me. I’ll let you poison my soup. You can slash my tires and spray-paint my driveway. AND ONCE I GET ALL THAT MONEY, I’M TOTALLY PAYING OFF SOME STUDENT LOANS AND FIXING THE GARAGE ROOF AND BUYING SOME NEW PANTS. Because that’s an insane amount of money.

Like I said — high class problem.

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