The more things change the more they stay the same.

failureOver the past year, we have witnessed a significant amount of money – billions of dollars worth – paid out in bailout money to various companies and industries. The government gave bailouts to companies that produce stuff no one wants and to financial institutions that were largely responsible for the financial mess in the first place.

We have then seen financial services firms who received bailout money pay their senior staff – many of whom were the ones who directed the ship into the iceberg in the first place – a retention bonus. Clearly, they don’t want these incompetents leaving the company and going to another company and screwing them up too. The company likes their incompetents just fine thank you very much and isn’t willing to give them up to a competitor. And they’re willing to pay your tax dollars to retain these losers too.

Afterall, it would cost the firm as much if not more to find and train someone equally incompetent to take their place and screw things up just as bad in an equal period of time. By the time the new person was successfully trained in the ways of incompetence, they’ll be far behind their competitors in the race to the ineptitude finish line.

These days and in this economy, you’d think that the best way to keep your job would be to show your intelligence, good decision-making, track record of success and other positive traits. Some people – and some industries – seem to believe that the opposite is true, however. Interestingly enough, these are the same industries that required a bailout in the first place because they weren’t able to compete on their own.

Incompetence doesn’t grow on trees but it does need to be cultivated and encouraged to survive. It tends to be well-paid too.

We never even got to covering buyouts either.

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