Let them eat cake: a 2008 tale

Back in the late 18th Century in a once great power with overseas wars, economic might, and the defeat of their main rival for world influence taken down by a small nation there were a class of people who took from the treasury to enrich themselves. In this time, the poor were told that they should be happy being told how to behave by those in power, since the rich and powerful enjoyed the blessings of the almighty, or else they would also be wretched and poor like the factory workers. Even the elite of this time made patronizing remarks about the need for the poor to change their habits and sacrifice since times were so bad, such as telling starving Parisians to eat cake(a more expensive good) since they could not afford cheaper sustaining bread.

Fast forward to 2008 in the United States and see that history once again repeats itself. The most militarily and economically powerful nation is engulfed in two overseas wars, their main rival for world influence(the Soviet Union) was defeated just about a decade ago by upstarts in a tiny piece of land, and leeches in suits are draining the treasury to line their own pockets. In this modern time the churches of materialism(also known as megachurches) tell the faithful that wealth is a sign of being blessed and that those who are poor are not blessed. Now the aristocrats changed their titles from Marquess to Senior Executive, but the same dynamic holds true. Let me past this quote from a spokesmouth for welfare queen AIG to bring home the point:

Nicholas Ashooh, AIG's senior vice president of communication, acknowledges that the perception of his company has taken a hit.

"Oh, it's terrible, it's terrible," he told CBS News.

Ashooh said the retention program does not include anyone in the firm's financial products business, the tiny arm of the company that torpedoed AIG with its high-risk, bad loans.

"We know that this is not a popular thing. A lot of people just won't accept it, but if you think about it, it's a calculated decision to keep businesses intact so that we can sell them and pay back taxpayers what we owe them," he said.

The translation: we screwed up the world's financial system and are rewarding top executives but you should trust us with money that you worked hard for since we know what is best. If you let us take $115 billion and dole it to top management, who will probably leave anyhow, it's in your best interest. Oh, while you are at it, pay some interest for our largesse (bonds are not free money after all) and enjoy it. There's a Santayana saying that keeps getting stuck in my head right now.