That's a Bank, Not a Person!
Today on my way into the office I was listening to 106.1 KISS FM. The discussion was centering around J.C. and his morals and how he was trying to explain his logic on stealing versus misplaced items that find their way into his home / bank account that he just doesn't return.
The story is something like this (and I missed the beginning) J.C. had $400 in his bank account. Checking his balance one day, he finds $5,000,000.00 has landed in his account. Thinking he's won the lottery or gotten some other great fortuituous gift, he spends some of it. Surely not all of it. Eventually, (naturally), he is contacted by the bank and they tell him that it was not his money (duh) and that he needs to return it all. It was a bank error, meant for another member of the bank.
J.C. thinks that he should not have to give the money back to the bank, that the "rich bank" should have to dole out another $5M to the party that it originally belongs to. His logic is, it fell into his account, therefore it is his now.
Now, I don't know how real any of this is. But the arguing was real enough. Kidd was telling him, "so you just think the bank has a lot of money and should have to give it all out." J.C.'s response was something like, "the bank is loaded!" And Kidd replies, "So you don't see the bank as a person." J.C. - "It's a bank!"
This is the problem with our country.
Banks, "big business," insurance companies, the government ... none of those are people to a great many American's. Instead of being made up of thousands of jobs and countless hours of individual sweat and toil; they are large money-making behemoths, that keep large stores of money away and out of reach from us normal people.
The bank doesn't have an additional $5M laying around. And the person that wrongfully put that money in J.C.'s account is probably going to lose their job. I'm not saying they shouldn't. But if the problem can't be fixed to the satisfaction of the injured party (the person who didn't get their $5M) than they stand to lose a client, which means they lose large dividends and cash flow. That means more people's jobs could be at risk.
All because J.C. feels entitled to money that he wrongly recieved.
The same thing is happening with the government and entitlement programs. It's no one individual's money ... it's the government's money. This is done specifically, they don't want you thinking about tax dollars as your money or your sister's money or your father's money. They want you to think of it as the government's money. It's easier to part with that way. It's also why they automatically deduct taxes from your paycheck. You are less likely to complain when you can't see how much you are paying. Imagine, if every month you had to cut a check to Uncle Sam. You would be far less happy with the taxes you paid, wouldn't you? It'd be like the electric company ... you'd start to wonder why they charge so much.
It also points to a lack of responsibility. I see that bank account as mine. If it is off by cents I am on the phone and asking why, wether it's to Lewis to check his pay stubs or if it's to the bank to see why my deposit wasn't exactly as I thought it was going to be. J.C. and his $5M fairy point to a lack of ownership over his own earnings / account. And a sad moral ambuiguity. It doesn't matter where the money comes from. It's still mine.
If a terrorist had given it to him, or a drug dealer working the elementary schools, would he have spent it the same?
Probably not ... because terrorists and drug dealers evoke negative feelings and most normal people don't want to be associated with them. But the bank ... the evil bank ... he can take money from them all day long. No matter that they won't be able to make loans to people to buy homes, or that losing cash flow means lost jobs. They are the evil bank, and therefore should be punished because in his mind they have endless resources and they aren't sharing.
Remember when you get your "stimulus check" in May ... that that money came from somewhere. And it's a loan against future tax returns. It will be included in your W2 come April 2009, and you will have to pay taxes against it. It is not "free money." There is no such thing.
The story is something like this (and I missed the beginning) J.C. had $400 in his bank account. Checking his balance one day, he finds $5,000,000.00 has landed in his account. Thinking he's won the lottery or gotten some other great fortuituous gift, he spends some of it. Surely not all of it. Eventually, (naturally), he is contacted by the bank and they tell him that it was not his money (duh) and that he needs to return it all. It was a bank error, meant for another member of the bank.
J.C. thinks that he should not have to give the money back to the bank, that the "rich bank" should have to dole out another $5M to the party that it originally belongs to. His logic is, it fell into his account, therefore it is his now.
Now, I don't know how real any of this is. But the arguing was real enough. Kidd was telling him, "so you just think the bank has a lot of money and should have to give it all out." J.C.'s response was something like, "the bank is loaded!" And Kidd replies, "So you don't see the bank as a person." J.C. - "It's a bank!"
This is the problem with our country.
Banks, "big business," insurance companies, the government ... none of those are people to a great many American's. Instead of being made up of thousands of jobs and countless hours of individual sweat and toil; they are large money-making behemoths, that keep large stores of money away and out of reach from us normal people.
The bank doesn't have an additional $5M laying around. And the person that wrongfully put that money in J.C.'s account is probably going to lose their job. I'm not saying they shouldn't. But if the problem can't be fixed to the satisfaction of the injured party (the person who didn't get their $5M) than they stand to lose a client, which means they lose large dividends and cash flow. That means more people's jobs could be at risk.
All because J.C. feels entitled to money that he wrongly recieved.
The same thing is happening with the government and entitlement programs. It's no one individual's money ... it's the government's money. This is done specifically, they don't want you thinking about tax dollars as your money or your sister's money or your father's money. They want you to think of it as the government's money. It's easier to part with that way. It's also why they automatically deduct taxes from your paycheck. You are less likely to complain when you can't see how much you are paying. Imagine, if every month you had to cut a check to Uncle Sam. You would be far less happy with the taxes you paid, wouldn't you? It'd be like the electric company ... you'd start to wonder why they charge so much.
It also points to a lack of responsibility. I see that bank account as mine. If it is off by cents I am on the phone and asking why, wether it's to Lewis to check his pay stubs or if it's to the bank to see why my deposit wasn't exactly as I thought it was going to be. J.C. and his $5M fairy point to a lack of ownership over his own earnings / account. And a sad moral ambuiguity. It doesn't matter where the money comes from. It's still mine.
If a terrorist had given it to him, or a drug dealer working the elementary schools, would he have spent it the same?
Probably not ... because terrorists and drug dealers evoke negative feelings and most normal people don't want to be associated with them. But the bank ... the evil bank ... he can take money from them all day long. No matter that they won't be able to make loans to people to buy homes, or that losing cash flow means lost jobs. They are the evil bank, and therefore should be punished because in his mind they have endless resources and they aren't sharing.
Remember when you get your "stimulus check" in May ... that that money came from somewhere. And it's a loan against future tax returns. It will be included in your W2 come April 2009, and you will have to pay taxes against it. It is not "free money." There is no such thing.
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