In ,
HeyBub dropped this bit of wisdom:
Lew Hodgett wrote:
All this hub-bub about a few million dollars of bonus money to
employees that seem to have such a good contract.

Time for a visit from Vido to AIG.

Vido would explain to each and every one receiving a large bonus that
he has a hunch that someone who files a tax return for such a large
sum of income probably has a pretty good chance that the IRS would
want to perform a very complete review these tax returns to insure
there were no errors.

Vido usually has pretty good hunches.


The complaint about bonuses is merely an attempt to apply government
methodology to the commercial environment. Governments don't (or
shouldn't) award incentives for jobs well done - governments cannot
survive if they foster initative and efficiency because each implies
some form of dissent from the received wisdom. Members of the
guardian mindset must conform for the sake of the task - there can be
no reward for straying off the reservation. This is the way members
of the ruling sect must think.

Conversely, the commercial mindset works best when members dissent
for the sake of the task. Bonuses are merely a way of encouraging such
outside-the-box thoughts and actions.

Since time immemorial, governments have experimented with the
encouragement of initiative. Such experiments almost always fail,
sometimes to the destruction of the entire country. As such, there is
a strong reluctance on the part of government to put a toe in that
water. In fact, as we see here, there is a strong incentive to impose
that principle outside the usual realm.

Business, on the other hand, has had its most wrenching problems when
employees are deprived of the opportunity to experiment and innovate.

Bottom line: Governments suffer - and even collapse entirely - when
they attempt commercial solutions to guardian problems. Likewise,
businesses suffer when they attempt to operate like a government.*

In the instant case, the AIG people who DON'T get their bonuses will
soon say "Screw this, I'm outta here," and they'll go to work for a
less governmental-minded enterprise. Their places will be filled by
bureacrats who know which rubber-stamp to use.

Although not germane to this topic, do not EVER vote for a candidate
who says his experience in running a business will serve the public
well and especially if he says he wants to apply business techniques
to your city's government!

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* There is at least one exception to this rule: The Mafia. The Mafia
exhibits parts of both rationales.

And here I thought a bonus was for a job well done ....

NOT one well and truely f'd up. )
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