John Edwards—Destroyer

Democrats are known for making statements targeted at intellectual light weights. They are the party of emotion. However, John Edwards made a statement the other day that I found amazing and I believe should be addressed. His candidacies have always relied heavily on agitating the lower class and that was certainly the purpose of this statement. Here it is…

“Corporate greed is killing your children’s future. Exxon Mobil’s profits last year, I don’t even know the number, was a record. How much money do these people need?” –Dec. 31 (Bloomberg)

Who exactly are “these people”? They must either be the shareholders or the employees of Exxon Mobil. Either way, I think I can speak for both groups. My father worked for Exxon Mobil for over 20 years. He supported our family with his paychecks. In addition to my father working there, I worked there several times. Finally, I am an Exxon Mobil shareholder.

First the employees: the higher the profits of the company—the higher the salaries and benefits to its employees. The higher the profits—the more job security. Higher corporate profits mean hiring more employees, which translates into opportunities for employee advancement. In a nutshell, the more money the company makes, the more employees prosper. It is not greedy to work for job security, increased paychecks and advancement.

Next the shareholders: I am a shareholder of Exxon Mobil. That makes me an owner of the company. Several years ago I purchased shares at $48. They are now worth approximately $93 a share. So to Mr. Edwards’s question: how much money do I need? Well the answer is A LOT. I want the stock to go higher and higher and higher. I want to be able to retire. I want to be able to pay off my home and I want to have enough money to pay for a kidney transplant if necessary. That isn’t greed.

Now Edwards could also be referring to a subset or shall I say a superset of employees known as executives. Being a fierce conservative you may expect me to staunchly defend corporate executives and I will. I want the officers of the company to work hard at crushing competition and maximizing profits through cost cutting. If they don’t do this, the company will not survive. An executive is like a jockey. He should be whipping his horse all the way to the finish line. They must do this because that is what the leaders of the competition are doing. Crushing competition and maximizing profits is not just good for employees and shareholders but also the consumer. It drives innovation, quality and lower prices. It makes society richer. These men are hired to fight and fight hard. They are not paid to donate corporate profits to charity, feed the poor or cure cancer. They are paid to increase corporate profits.

Now I do understand that many executives are robbing the American investor. For that you can refer to my other web site www.independentboards.org. Though I have strong opinions on the subject, it is not noticeably responsible for higher gas prices.

There is no such thing as “corporate greed”. It is a false term which represents nothing. It is a term that was skillfully crafted to make those with less, angry with those who have more. It does not build, it destroys.