Those RBS banking bonuses

I am not instinctively anti banker. After all my own brother in law works for a major bank and is by no means the only banker I have been related to. However, I find my blood pressure raised when I read that RBS executives arfe threatening to resign if they don't get their bonuses.

Now I know that bonuses are a part of bank culture. Plenty of workers get bonuses and they make financial decisions with this in mind. Whilst I prefer the idea that people are paid a salary for work done, I don't think that all bonuses in themselves are bad. Cap them at £10,000 by all means. After all most bank workers get nowhere near that amount in bonuses.

But of course this is about people at the top, the scandalous people already trousering £1 million per annum or so. Now I am all for class war if we stop people earning such inflated figures. And I am especially so when these are the people whose mentality has screwed up the economy leaving far to many on jobseekers allowance of £64.50 a week. A public flogging is more in keeping with what some of these people deserve than a bonus to enable a second holiday home.

The sad thing about the story to which I linked is that the preposterous Lord Mandelson is preparing the grounds for a surrender to the greedy. Surely in the name of humanity, housing for the homeless, free university education and better access to drugs in the NHS are more worthy causes than enriching the sickeningly over rich. and if it is about handouts surely doubling the benefit for those on £64.50 jobseekers allowaance is more worthy than super bonuses for the richest bankers. Indeed as we approach Christmas, it is so much more in tune with the redistributionist sentiments of Mary's Magnificat.

But of course realists will say we have to keep these rich scroungers happy because our system needs them more than steel workers, nurses, teachers etc. I can't properly answer that point other than to say that if such is the case, our economic system stands condemned and old Karl was right. Indeed what better economic gospel imperative could there be than;

From each according to his abilities. To each according to his needs.

Maybe an indea whose time has come!