Thursday, October 30, 2008

Balance? I don't think so.

I was perusing the CNN website and saw these two headlines juxtaposed:

Exxon Mobil Breaks Profit Record
American Express Cutting 7,000 Jobs.

Boggles the mind, doesn't it? On the one hand, people and companies are struggling economically and fuel costs are a big part of that. Then, there's the biggest oil company making the biggest profit ever. I know, I know. Capitalism works that way. But it's insane.

By reducing their profit margins and keeping fuel a bit lower in cost, the oil companies can *help* the general economy. Maybe we'd see fewer job cuts. Certainly costs of food and goods would be lower. But greed...greed is the name of the game. It was one of the driving forces behind our mortgage/lending debacle, our stock market fallout, and so much more. And the oil companies have no shame. Sure, *their* employees are comfy...especially those executives with their huge bonus and such. But at what cost? No, I don't expect a lot of altruism in the business world. But some decency wouldn't hurt, would it?

I love my country, but stuff like this just drives me nuts.

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