Who could have imagined AIG?

[coberst]

Who could have imagined AIG?

 

In the last few days we have seen, read, and heard various members of the business media explaining how they personally and their particular operation are not responsible for the “sneak” attack by AIG upon or way of life. They use such excuses as not having subpoena power with which to ferret out secret information.

 

For decades the business media has been acting as cheerleaders for Corporate America instead of being the watchdogs that bark thus alerting the residents whenever something suspicious approaches our house.

 

It should have been evident to any Critical Thinking individual who is responsible enough to keep up with current events that the leaders of Corporate America had acquired great power with little accountability. The great power is discernable when we recognize that there were obviously few if any checks upon their behavior when we see that they were able to constantly increase their income to levels that are obscene by any reasonable measure.

 

“The critical habit of thought, if usual in a society, will pervade its entire mores, because it is a way of taking up the problems of life.”—William Graham Sumner, distinguished anthropologist

 

The corporate CEOs were free to take what they will in monetary reward. They thereby made it plain to even the casual observer that they could do pretty much whatever suited their personal interests. If we place a normal individual into a position of great power uninhibited by oversight is it any wonder that these individuals will continue to push the envelope of self-interest?

 

CA (Corporate America) has developed a well-honed expertise in motivating the population to behave in a desired manner. Citizens as consumers are ample manifestation of that expertise. CA has accomplished this ability by careful study and implementation of the knowledge of the ways of human behavior. I suspect this same structure applies to most Western democracies.

 

A democratic form of government is one wherein the citizens have some voice in some policy decisions. The greater the voice of the citizens the better the democracy.

 

In America we have policy makers, decision makers, and citizens. The decision makers are our elected representatives and are, thus, under some control by the voting citizen. The policy makers are the leaders of CA; less than ten thousand individuals, according to those who study such matters. Policy makers exercise significant control of decision makers by controlling the financing of elections.

 

Policy makers customize and maintain the dominant ideology in order to control the political behavior of the citizens. This dominant ideology exercises the political control of the citizens in the same fashion as the consuming citizen is controlled by the same dominant ideology.

 

An enlightened citizen is the only means to gain more voice in more policy decisions. An enlightened citizen is much more than an informed citizen. Critical thinking is the only practical means to develop a more enlightened citizen. If, however, we wait until our CT trained grade-schoolers become adults I suspect all will be lost. This is why I think a massive effort must be made to convince today’s adults that they must train themselves in CT.

 

 

“Thomas R. Dye, Professor of Political Science at Florida State University, has published a series of books examining who and what institutions actually control and run America. to understand who is making the decisions that affect our lives, we also have to understand how societies structure themselves in general. Why the few always tend to share more power than the many and what this means in terms of both a society's evolution and our daily lives. they examined the other 11 institutions that exert just as powerful a shaping influence, although somewhat more subtle: The Industrial, Corporations, Utilities and Communications, Banking, Insurance Investment, Mass Media, Law, Education Foundation, Civic and Cultural Organizations, Government, and the Military.”

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[Theory5]

AIG is a result of what happens when the corperations are given more control that our even our government has. They have become so powerful that our government can't even control them. These corperations are bigger than we think, they have sub-devisions and front corperations in other names to pay lower tax's and avoid monopoly laws. These companies should not have gotten bailouts, its not them who needs a bailout, its the small businesses, family owned resturants, etc. When all this mess is fixed, these companies will pretty much have monopolies because all of the smaller companies have gone under. Why should we give money to giant corperations? They dont need it, AIG is giving their executives 165 million dollar bonus's with money from the bailout. They need to LOWER their salaries, and create more jobs for Americans, not spend all the money on themselves. What individual needs more than $100 million dollars to live well? The only way these companies can be stopped is if us, the people, boycott their products, refuse to buy their stuff. But everyone cares to much about themselves to think of America as a whole! They care about buying the lowest costing products, made in some third world country for pennies. They care about their own personal satisfaction, they care about instantanious gratification, they care about their "image", not their world, not their community. This is what allows these companies to function, this is what allows them to control the world.

[Moontanman]

I think this 15 year old cartoon says a lot about corporate greed

 

[CraigD]

The only way these companies can be stopped is if us, the people, boycott their products, refuse to buy their stuff.

An argument can be made that consumer boycotts can be effective against manufacturers and retailers, especially small ones, such as the “small businesses, family-owned restaurants, etc” mentioned above, because their products can be identified by the consumer. How, Theory5, would you identify an AIG product, and boycott it? :singer:

 

AIG is an insurance company, with much of its business in selling insurance not to individual consumers, but to companies who lend money to consumers, especially in the form of mortgage loans used to buy houses and land. The cost of the AIG insurance policy is paid by mortgage lender by increasing the consumer’s monthly payment. The lender may buy insurance from another company, which then sells the loan to AIG. So the only way consumer can boycott AIG is to not borrow money from companies that buy insurance.

 

In the US, lending banks are required to either hold large cash or other asset reserves, or buy insurance, to assure that if borrowers default on their loans, the bank can still pay its investors, one of whom might be a ordinary person, via a savings account. To be efficient enough to compete with other banks by offering comparable interest rates, in effect all banks buy insurance. So not borrowing money from companies that buy insurance mean not borrowing money from banks. Most people are justifiably wary of borrowing money other than from banks.

 

Even boycotting businesses with obvious ties with AIG doesn’t assure that one is :boycotting AIG”. Companies and individuals who don’t lend money, such as family-owned restaurants, may do business with AIG through such means as buying insurance from them or insurance companies with relationships with AIG or buying stock in AIG. The businesses are under no legal obligation to tell potential customers that they have done this, so there is no way, short of espionage, for the consumer to know if their business with any business or individual is paying AIG.

 

This interconnectedness is true of many large companies, not just AIG.

But everyone cares to much about themselves to think of America as a whole! They care about buying the lowest costing products, made in some third world country for pennies. They care about their own personal satisfaction, they care about instantanious gratification, they care about their "image", not their world, not their community. This is what allows these companies to function, this is what allows them to control the world.

This may be true of consumers and retail businesses (eg: WalMart), but, as noted above, AIG is not this kind of business. Its major, indirect interaction with consumers is in allowing lenders to make available to consumers mortgage loans that they would otherwise not be able to get. With a few exceptions, real estate and mortgages are not purchased in pursuit of instant gratification.

[freeztar]

So the only way consumer can boycott AIG is to not borrow money from companies that buy insurance.

 

That is not exactly true. While I agree with your descriptions of AIG's main business focus, they do have consumer products which are easy to boycott. AIG sells "product protection plans" (read warranties) through many consumer outlets such as Office Depot and Best Buy.

 

Throughout this Contract ("Contract"), the words, "We", "Us", and "Our" refer to AIG Warranty Services and Insurance Agency, Inc. ("AIGWS"), the ("Obligor").

Office Supplies, Furniture, Technology at Office Depot

 

I wouldn't recommend these warranties for anyone to begin with, but if you buy a tech item from one of the stores that carry additional warranties, do not buy the warranty (or at least read the warranty small print to see who is supplying it).

 

That said, as this side of AIG is not their main focus, it's likely not to have much of an impact.