by Rich Miles
I have had a very bad habit in my life - failing to see and take note of significant events in the news, etc.
The best, or one might say the worst, example of this happened when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was taken over by militant students in 1979 - an event that almost certainly toppled a U.S. regime, and had many other far-reaching ramifications to it over its 444 days' duration, and far into the future after it was over.
I didn't understand it.
Or rather, it might be more accurate to say that I didn't realize how important it was.
I remember thinking, when I first heard of the seizing of the embassy, "Well, there goes another U.S. embassy - not the first, certainly not the last, but no big deal."
It's pretty clear today how wrong I was back then.
I've done this many times before and since - just simply failed to notice how important an event was, and thus failed to learn anything from it, among other things.
But today, I am here to announce that I actually got out in front of one: I was a day ahead of the national outrage over the bonuses at AIG, and I am very proud of myself for having done so. Frankly, when I wrote that piece on the 13th, I thought it might just cause a little flameout, and then would disappear, as do so many such stories in recent months. In fact, AIG was at the center of another story about the payment of bonuses late last year, and that one did fizzle and die after a few days.
I don't think this one is going away so fast, and I'm glad of it. And glad for any little part I may have had in the story growing legs. I'm under no illusion I am responsible for it, but if I've been able to prop up the legs a little from my little corner of the world, that's great.
So AIG is getting a bit of its own back - that's great, too. I sincerely hope the bigwigs at AIG keep trying to make excuses for themselves. It will only make them look worse and worse. And then, I want to see a bunch of the ol' boys working behind the counter at Arby's or some such. All of 'em - 6 bucks an hour or so. I want these morons who've been making 6 figures or better since 4th grade to learn what it's like to have to sweat a bit to make ends meet.
I don't really expect that to happen - but I'd sure love it. As someone important said, payback's a bitch!
Ain't it?
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2 comments:
It is not just you Rich.
We have all become accustomed to CEO's making more money in their first 15 minutes in their new "job" than the average worker does in the whole year.
Rich, I think it's easy for everyone to miss the signifigance of major issues from time to time. The reason? Our media is pathetic. Rarely do we get an in-depth, broad analysis to accompany the issue at hand. Instead, we're lucky to get PART of what we need. On the rare occasion they feature a true expert or scholar presenting background, the presentation is always rushed and cut short so the next commercial can be aired or the next show "segment" can be featured. Or, worse yet, the expert will be refuted by some pundit and the discussion will disintegrate into a conflict between the opposing speakers. It is a miracle anybody watches news-related programming anymore or that anybody learns anything of value from our pathetic, corporatist networks.
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