When I was a young undergrad, I had the privilege of listening to our sister/mother/Champion Dr. Angela Davis speak at my alma mater. I was a young finance major intent upon discovering the magic of how money makes money. Dr. Davis had made mention about the dangers of capitalism’s profit pursuit and upon hearing it, I perked up, and I prayed that she would open up the forum for question and answer. I couldn’t wait to debate her on how profits were essential to job creation. She did. So, I waited in line for my opportunity and when it arose, I argued the essentials of profit pursuit and the virtues of the free market system. As you may have already guessed, I did not change her mind.
She went on to highlight how the theory of capitalism and free markets does NOT match up with the reality. I didn’t agree at the time, but now I do. WHOLEHEARTEDLY. Here’s why:
Last year in 2013, Jamie Dimon (Chase's CEO) took home $11.5 MILLION in bonus money. Just bonus money. ALL of that money went to one person, in a year where his company was riddled with lawsuits and where over 5000 people were laid off. Further, this $11.5 million bonus represented a 53% cut from his 2012 bonus of $23.1 million.
Lastly consider this: the median household income in America last year was $51k/year (amazing since I barely know anyone who makes that much money but I digress....) If you divide Dimon's 2 year BONUS checks by the median household income, you get 678.
YUP, [11,500,000 +23,100,000]/51,000= 678 HIGH PAYING jobs
that could have been created - but weren’t.
#timeforrealchange
-Hannibal Pace
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