Uncle Sam, what do you really think of me?

I am soooooooooooo very tired of hearing, "Well, the company was just too big to fail."
Huh?
What does that mean?
Somebody help me with this, because the more I hear it, the less and less sense it makes. If there are companies which are too big to fail, then clearly the government believes there are far more who are small enough to flop. That they want to flop?
Hey, who cares about the guy starting up a lawn service or the woman who makes pottery from home to sell! They don't matter as much as "these people" on Wall St. or who have inhumane towers in large cities across the country. The Tower People are the people who count.
So, i take it the government is now picking which companies are the best for my money? Should I not have some say in whether the company I am financing is big enough to "support?"
When AIG went south and turned belly up like some dead fish, the President said "Whoa! We have to save them boys! I need to talk to my Money Man!" So, off to the dead fish doctor (the US taxpayer) he went, got a script (relax, Rush...) for billions of dollars, and pumped the medicine (money) into Flipper...who is now splashing away with my cash. Just don't get caught in some tuna net, now!
Nice save, W!
But wait...he started looking around and saw the ocean was filling up with dead fish...Fannie May, Freddie Mac, Wakovia, and we can't forget about GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Oh! That's right... American Express (anyone else see the irony in AMEX not being able to pay their bills? Next time anyone gets a statement from them they should send them a copy of their tax return and say this should be good enough for awhile).
I guess America is no longer a Capitalistic nation.
Because if we were, we would remember two big things.

ONE, Capitalism only works in a moral environment. That is to say, the playing field must be even for ALL who participate in it...no matter how small or big they are.

TWO, as a direct result of number one, failure is not only a risk facing those entering this fair and even market, by some...it is REQUIRED! Wait as second...let me try that again in case it passed you by... IT IS REQUIRED!!!!!!!! It is not the government's place to say who makes it and who does not. People decide it...People both in the company (by how they run the thing) and outside of it (whether the product/service offered by the company is worth buying). Both are needed for success and in equal parts. I don't see where Uncle Sam has much to do with any of that?

There, it has been said.

I have seen or heard or read no one else who says the same, but it is true. In order for there to be success, failure is required. People must fail so others can grow. How else can you measure the strength of a business unless you see others failing?
"But what about the workers! Their pentions!"
What about them??
If they are lost, then they are lost.
People forget investments are not promises. They are wishful thinkings and gambles a company or product will move ahead. Nothing more.
People with pentions gambled the money they put into their own company would be worth more than if they were to place it in a bank or hide in a box inside a bathroom wall. They are also betting their company will be around long enough for them to collect the cash.
There's this funny this I learned about betting when I was about 10 years old...you don't always get it right. I am the only person who learned that lesson?

But more than anything, I think the government has insulted me.
They have said, "John, you suck and we want to make sure you know you suck. You are going to send money to a company to you have never used a service of, may never use the services of, and, because you suck, you will have no say at all in the matter. AND, if we want, we may come back to you for more money in the future. Oh, by the way, you suck, in case you forgot."
That's the message I got.
Blah, blah, blah, John, you suck, blah, blah, blah, you suck.
If I worked for AIG, they would have been on their knees looking up at me with those "I want to make you happy eyes"and licking their lips.
But, I don't work for AIG. I am only John...and I suck (there is a pun in there).

Someday people will look back at this and realize how bad an idea it was to try and save all the dying fish, but maybe by then it will be too late the sea itself will have dried up.
So, Flipper, swim! Swim as fast as you can!




P.S. Yes, I know Flipper was a dolphin and not a fish.