Mea culpa

Yesterday, on my way in to work, I heard about a poll where they asked New Yorker's and D.C. residents whose fault the current economic meltdown is.  Some huge percentage of D.C. folks (I'd link to the poll and give you numbers, but I can't find it, even on npr.org) lay the blame on New Yorkers.  (New Yorkers, unsurprisingly, fail to blame themselves.) 

 

When I first heard that, I thought, "HEY!"  And then I thought, "Bastards!"  But then I thought about it some more. 

 

I blame us, too. 

 

If I needed clearer evidence, I need look no further than this article from the New York Times, explaining why capping executive pay at a mere half-million dollars is cruel and unusual punishment.  (The Times, it must be noted, tries valiantly to see both sides--but it also categorizes twice-yearly vacations under "living expenses," so don't rely on the Times for any personal finance advice.)  Interviewed at the end of the story is the woman I think of as the poster-child for New York's flagrant entitlement, Candace Bushnell.  What she says sums it up:

"People inherently understand that if they are going to get ahead in whatever corporate culture they are involved in, they need to take on the appurtenances of what defines that culture," she said. "So if you are in a culture where spending a lot of money is a sign of success, it's like the same thing that goes back to high school peer pressure. It's about fitting in."

Okay executives.  It's time to learn something the rest of us learned on the playground.  Fitting in isn't always the right move.  You were probably getting private tutoring or ski lessons or something during that after-school special.  But seriously, who are you trying to fit in with?  Madoff?  Enron?  Carrie Bradshaw?  You do not deserve to live the way you have been living.  Wasting shareholder money is the same as stealing it, and you have stolen enough.

 

As the Times suggests, move (to Hoboken, please) and get yourself a metrocard.  And put the kids in public school, where they can get beaten up behind the backstop like everyone else.  At the very least, sit them down in front of the after-school special. 

 

More to the point, ordinary New Yorkers, go make us proud!  This city has a lot of substance under all the style--don't forget that when you need it most.