NEVER UNDERESTIMATE

THE GREED

OF THE WEALTHY CLASS!

THE MARTHA STEWART SYNDRONE

There's an element of greed that seems to takes over as some people get wealthy, and many men and women, who, as they become increasingly wealthier, seem to lose all sense of honor, decency and shame.

They become more and more acquisitive, sacrificing their humanity, jettisoning friendships and close relationships of many years that they once held dear.  They become social climbers and name-droppers as they  increase their wealth and social position. Eventually their rapaciousness causes them to also lose their sense of balance, of right and wrong, and to them wealth makes right, not right makes right.

Martha Stewart might well be used as an example; she got into difficulty that began as an act where she might have saved herself somewhere around $50,000. That was about 1/10 of 1% of her net worth, which at the time was close to a billion dollars. Soon, due to the drop in the value of the stock in her company, that small loss she faced and feared grew to hundreds of millions, in fact, about 50% of her total worth vanished as the value of her conpany's stock fell dramatically.

But, her stock-holders suffered too, in the same percentage of losses as she, because of that greed.  There were untold hardships for many who simply could not afford such losses. Her moral compass no longer pointed to "true North." The mistake she made was seemingly small, but the consequences of that error were large for herself and others.  Her legal costs alone far outclipsed the minor losses she would have suffered if she had not made that small mistake. 

The reports of her demands upon and nastiness to subordinates became classics in the investigation and coverage of her financial and legal problems. Leona Helmsley was another woman whose exploits became fodder for the scandal sheets, her greed so overcame every sense of decency, that her inhumanity to employees was legendary.  Her mistreatment of others made her sound more like the Evil Witch in the Hansel and Gretel story than a human being.   She seemed to take pleasure in firing workers whose livlihood and well-being depended upon their jobs, putting them and their families at risk.

Greed? Look at Bernard Ebbers, who cost shareholders billions, depleting the retirement funds of millions of average people!  Dennis Kowalski robbed the company that was paying him millions a year out of many millions more, without it bothering his conscience at all.  While he was worth hundreds of millions, he still schemed to cheat the State of New York out of sales tax on the expensive art he purchased.  In the end, it turned out, he was nothing more than a cheap chiseler.

Then there's Kenneth Lay, the CEO of Enron, seemingly on top of the world, until it all dropped out from under him.  They had devised a scheme to create artificial shortages so that they could make millions more, added to those millions they had already accumulated.  Also at Enron was Jeffrey Skilling, no facing a lifetime behind bars...and the list goes on and on and on. Greed?

THE CREDIT CARD CARTEL IS IN THE SAME CLASS.

Add to these schemers the names of every major bank associated with the Credit Card industry, Citibank, MBNA, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Bank One, and their greedy partners in rapaciousness, Visa, MasterCard and Discover, American Express, Diners Club, among others.

I've a confession to make: I've grown to hate these international banks, these monstrous financial institutions, so much so that my rhetoric might sound more like a Marxist rather than a dyed-in-the-wool Capitalist.  I believe in democracy and I believe in free enterprise and I believe in my country and I take to heart every word in the Declaration of Independence as well as our Constitution.  I hate communism and Marxism and socialism. 

Statement:
We believe that Air Miles, and the use of bribery as advocated and used by certain members of the Credit/Charge Card Cartel to steal Retailers’ profits, should be terminated immediately. (July 30, 2002)

Retailers must be Reimbursed for Losses (Bank Charges) over the past ten years due to Air Miles:
Bank service fees connected with credit cards have increased thousands of dollars annually for many Retailers. Large Retailers are paying out tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars more annually, and the culprits are either Air Miles or Refunds by Charge and Credit Card companies. Merchants should be reimbursed for all losses suffered through the fraud known as Air Miles, based upon their yearly percentage of increases in sales on plastic between 1992 and 2002, plus interest and punitive damages.
It's time for US to recover OUR losses from this crooked scheme!(Class Action Suit).

Consumers should be Compensated (Bought Out) at 3 Cents per Mile:
The tremendous accumulation of Air MileSe (reportedly 7 1/2 trillion miles) by Consumers, indicates that likely most of it is not redeemable by U.S. Airlines. Consumers should be compensated at the rate of three (3) cents a mile for their credits. (i.e. 250,000 miles at 3 cents per mile = $7,500 cash payout.) This is roughly the amount of money “stolen” from the business owners, and offered to their clients as Air Miles; it rightfully (or wrongfully) should be paid to the Consumers. These payments can be applied to balances on some cards, which would help the Cardholders considerably.

Local Banks Should Support Local Merchants in Defeating Air Miles:
Local bank officers in agreement with this position should publicly acknowledge the injustice of the use of bribery through the use of Air Miles, rebates, refunds, and other perks, as a responsible step and in support of their local business owners. While the Visa/MasterCard/American Ex-Cess contract forbids us to discount in order to discourage use of a charge or credit card, they, in effect, are discounting our merchandise. Not only that, but they are using our money to do it.

"Air Miles" rewards the users of Credit Cards with a "discount", which penalizes the customer who pays with cash or check.
This is adverse to the interests of the Retailers and forces them to accept conditions which are contrary to their best interests and welfare.
The the customer using plastic to make his payment receives "Air Miles" as a reward, and it is in effect a discount. Therefore he pays a lower price than the one who pays with Cash or Check.

If a customer pays a thousand dollar invoice with cash or check, the Retailer receives his price in full. If that customer used an American Express card, he only receives $960. If that customer uses Visa, MasterCard or Discover, then he receives $980. In one instance the Retailer loses $40 and in the other $20.

Therefore, because of the chicannery of the Visa & MasterCard banking interests, as well as American Express, Retailers are locked into an Agreement that forces them to reward customers who use costly plastic, thereby forcing them to treat their cash customers disadvantageously.
It makes the cash customer "a fool" for being honest and paying his bill in full.

It rewards the "chiseler" who uses his plastic cards on every purchase in order to gain free "Air Miles".  It has turned us into a nation of chiselers, plastic cheap chiselers, doiing the dirty work for the Banking and Credit Card industry.