If I had a million dollars… it wouldn’t be enough.

Allow me to explain.

A very sweet girl I know just found out that she is losing her job at the end of the school year. She teaches the third grade. She is good at what she does. The world, and this town especially, needs good teachers. But she is still losing her job. This frustrates me to no end.

Then I think about my fiance’s best friend. He just lost his job too. The company eliminated his position, gave him a pittance of a severance, and sent him on his way. The economy is down, you understand, they didn’t have a choice.

Sure, he worked for a big giant corporation whose CEO probably earns seven or eight figures. Probably has one of those golden parachutes. Probably has a company car to boot. But that small job, that is the one that needs to be downsized. Good bye, and thanks for your loyal service. Here’s an extra paycheck just to show that we are good people. See?

My company is also in the process of downsizing. The best part about this is that I have lost count of the number of overpaid executives here. They don’t get the axe, or even get asked to take a pay cut. No, it is much better to lay off the little guy who makes the company run, thus destroying the morale of anyone left and ensuring that your underpaid rank and file staff are over worked.

Yeah, Capitalism! Give me a C! Give me an E! Give me an O!

Give me a break.

At this point, I have literally lost count of the number of people I know who have lost jobs or homes, or, God forbid, both. These are good, solid, hard working people. They aren’t evil. They aren’t lazy. They aren’t anything other than ordinary citizens struggling to make ends meet, then falling flat on their faces when the ends get moved, or taken away entirely. Why? Why do we have to face joblessness and homelessness in this country? Aren't we the richest, the biggest, the most compassionate land on earth?

Most of us.

You see, I have been doing a great deal of research on the subject as of late. My own impending lay off notwithstanding, I believe that there is one thing, one cause that we can point to in this ever changing world that remains constant. There is one condition that deserves, I believe, the blame for most of the problems we find ourselves facing today, and throughout history: Greed.

That's right.

Good old fashioned greed is to blame. Power corrupts. Greed is corruption. Greed is sin and vice and folly all rolled into one hungry little monster. Greed is a deadly sin by his other name, Envy. Greed changes people. It infests them. It poisons the mind and soul. Greed damns us and all around us to suffer in its wake. Even if you aren't the greedy one, your boss, your parents, your neighbor may be. Greed covets. Greed destroys. Greed thrives in the worst of us. Greed dwells, hidden in the rest. That's the worst part.

Here goes Dawn the Liberal again. Another rant against capitalism. Au contraire, mon amis. I am an entreprenuer at heart. I need capitalism and a free market. I am an American, I believe in those things very deeply. They drive this great land, and each of us in turn to be smarter and better. With competition we thrive. It's when Greed rears his ugly green head that we suffer.

Allow me to elaborate.

In 2004, the average CEO earned 240 times more than the compensation earned by the average worker. That's in America. In other industrialized countries, CEOs earned about a third of that amount. CEO pay increased by 14% average between 2003 and 2004. The average worker's pay increased by just over 2%. If inflation is taken into account, real spending power acutally fell by just under 1%. We are earning less, things are costing more, and the leaders of our corporations are getting fatter and richer. (By the way, all of these figures are available on the web. I checked the Wallstreet Journal, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics)

I wish I had a 14% raise last year. Of course, I actually earn less because of the job I am in, but that's no big deal, right? Because surely my company loyalty will be rewarded. Right? Right? Anyone?

Why are you laughing?

Perhaps it is because you and I both know that at the end of the day, profits and shareholders hold all the cards (forget if some companies actually lay off shareholder employees... they don't mean that much to begin with...) When it comes time to figuring out how to save a buck, you and I are the first people on the chopping block. Imagine you, typical Joe earn $35,000.00, living paycheck to paycheck. You don't have a savings, you are lucky to have your health plan(which you pay for), you have a modest home, a running car (thank goodness) and your health. Imagine the CEO earns 240 times that number in total compensation - That's 8.4 million roughly. That's a lot of dough. He probably lives in a slightly larger home (mansion) in a slightly more prosperous neighborhood. He drives a new Mercedes (or BMW or Hummer - let your imagination soar). His health plan is 100% company covered. He has a hell of a savings, an IRA, Stocks, Bonds, CDs, and a Swiss Bank Account. He takes a vacation to Europe once a year. You saved up for three years to drive across country with your kids in your car and go to Disneyland for a couple of days. You stayed at the Holiday Inn, which you consider a splurge. Going out to eat, he is 5 star, and you are value meal. You exist in different worlds. Nothing wrong with that. You work hard, and you just know that your bosses know that. You are honest as the day is long. You pay your taxes. You don't speed. You only drink socially. You love your wife.

Let's say now that the company has hit some hard times as has been known to happen. Now the company starts loosing money. They need to save 2 million right away, every year. Where should they look to get that money? Most companies, unfortunately, decide to cut jobs. Not upper level management jobs. No, Mid management and below. The first people on the chopping block are those at your level. You can save them $35,000 a year. You and 59 of your closest buddies will be out the door. Just to prove that the company isn't all bad, they are going to give you one extra paycheck. They don't have to give you anything. You take it and leave.

Now, if you are like me, and millions of others like us, you start to panic. I don't know about you, but my paycheck is 100% accounted for before I even get it. I know where every penny has to go. I have rent to make. I have bills to pay. I have to have power and food and shelter. That extra paycheck will keep you in your house for another month. You had better find something by then.

On your way home, you notice that gas is ten cents more a gallon than it was when you left. Should have topped off the tank. But you didn't know. It was an ordinary Friday, just like any other.

Did you know that most companies lay people off on Friday? That's so you have the whole weekend to stew about it. Great. Sure, by taking a pay cut in his ridiculous pay (say he now only earns 6 million, poor baby) he could save those 60 jobs. Save 60 more heads on the unemployment line. Save 60 more families from desperate times. From losing their homes. From losing their hope. But why would he want to do that. Afterall, he deserves it. Serves the rest of us right for being workers instead of queen bee.

Now, I have been told that I am being ridiculous. That these CEOs deserve their millions of dollars and stock options and golden parachutes. The shareholders, afterall, are willing to pay for it. The CEOs aren't really taking advantage of the system.

Bullshit. I'm sorry, but the more I think about it, the more angry I get. Minimum wage hasn't gone up in years. Most employees are making LESS in real dollars than in previous years. People are loosing their jobs because of downsizing or sending jobs to third world countries where labor is cheap and exploitable (hard facts, sorry). Many companies no longer provide health insurance. Some reduce vacation and holidays to the bear minimum. We are told that the company wants to help us. Then it lays us off. And the CEOs and the shareholders and the board of directors get rich in the process. On the backs of the worker.

I am not trying to incite a worker's revolution here. That is not my point. I am just frustrated by the lack of equity. I had a wholly frustrating discussion on this topic earlier today. I don't believe that we are all worth the same compensation, but COME ON! You cannot tell me that a CEO who leaves his company on the verge of bankrupcy after making BAD decisions is worth 240 times more than the hard working schmoe on the front lines who does his freaking job well. (Merrill Lynch, for example). If a ship starts to drift off course, do you toss the crew overboard, or do you demand answers and performance from the captain. Incidentally, just because some boards are willing to pay ridiculous salaries to these men (and they are largely men - white men at that - I am not talking all, just majority) doesn't mean that they are actually worth that. It doesn't make it right, or just, or moral.

And afterall, are we not a moral and just society?

So you see, I cannot possibly accept as little as a million dollars. I am worth way way way more than that. Hell, I am worth more than I am getting paid now, but I am at least smart enough to realize that it could end at any minute. They could find someone in Timbuktu who is willing to do my job for a nickle a week. That is net gain of a few hundred dollars to my company. Problem solved. Here's a lovely pink slip, and as your parting gift, a loss of dignity and security. WalMart is hiring. I believe they pay minimum wage.

Until something changes within the mindset of the American people, it will go on like this. I will continue to feel anger and shake my fist into the sky demanding answers of a system that seems capable of robbing most people of their sense of self and worth. A system that throws away people because they weren't lucky enough to be CEO material. Sure, we can improve ourselves, but there are always going to be people at the bottom rung of the ladder. Society cannot stand without them. And I have always believed that you can judge a society by how she treats the lowest of her citizens. I don't want to be rich, I just want to be comfortable and not be afraid that someone is going to decide that I am worth more as an erased expense than I contribute to the company. Like it or not, I depend on money to survive. Survival, at its heart is the most basic right I know.

Of course, I could be wrong. Survival could be a privledge reserved for the rich, we just don't know it yet.