Crazy

Being crazy used to mean something. Now, everybody’s crazy. Charles Manson

In September, Merrill Lynch and Bank of America agreed, prior to an acquisition, that Merrill could pay $3.6 billion in performance bonuses. Merrill lost $25 billion in 2008.

While Merrill was struggling for its financial life, its CEO spent $1.2 million redecorating his office. My favorites were the $87,000 spent on two guest chairs and the $1,400 spent for a trash can.

Every day, it seems like more stories are coming forth about “performance bonuses” paid by failing companies and other extravagant expenditures from companies receiving bailout money.

These actions reflect that our country’s real crisis is not economic, but moral. How many people looked the other way in the process of approving $3.6 billion in performance bonuses? Was there no one to say, “This is crazy!”

Charles Manson was right, being crazy used to mean something.