Woman Leaves $13 Million to Pet Cat

     I gotta admit this irks me. During the fall of AIG in 2008 after the government had bailed it out there was a scandal over the fact that very large bonuses were still being payed out. There was a report too where a bunch of very highly paid employees were at a company sponsored party that cost millions. While in the big scheme of things in the Crisis of 2008 this was as outrages go small potatos compared to the crux and depth of the problem there was a ground swell of public outrage.

    Chris Mathews explained the rage this way: dogs can only see other dogs. Whereas most Americans could scarcely understand the larger subprime meltdown, the CDOs, huge leverage ratios, etc.(according to a recent movie neither could people like Dick Fuld) people could understand the idea that AIG had failed as an enitity and yet the employees still got huge salaries and payouts. That seems at variance for pay for performance. In other words the real root of what there was to be angry about was less clear but it was easy to understand someone being paid more than they earned. This dog comparison is not pleasant but it was descriptive.

   For me believe it or not I find what Maria Assunta, the recently deceased widow of a wealthy tycoon in Rome, Italy did as obnoxious as AIG executives partying while the country is in crisis. In some sense to be honest I did kind of see the side of the AIG employees. Put yourself in their position. If your pay is $20 an hour-lucky stiff-and suddenly it's decided on some general populist sentiment that that's more than you need and now you're gonna be paid $12 and hour would you think that's cool? Of course the difference is the level of scale, $20 while a decent wage, and even a livable wage is needed. It's arguable that not much beneath that level is even livable. But you see the same thing with anyone. Even if you're an athlete and make millions, you feel crappy if suddenly-as the owners tried to do this year-dock your pay by 20%. It never feels good to get a pay cut and if there's a contract that you get a set amount and then someone comes in and capriciously just tears it up and say "We've decided you don't need it" you still feel crappy.

   This Italian woman in her way irks me more. The reality is a cat who will only live a finite amount of years doesn't need anywhere near $13 million. I can understand wanting it to be cared for but $13 million? Let me say I too have been a pet owner and love dogs and cats-some of those other things that people own I don't get but to each his own. I do sometimes think some people are a little over the top in the level of pet worship they engage in, though I guess the Egyptians were supposed to have literally worshipped cats.

   I guess I kind of feel that some people love animals so much because they love humanity so little. Honestly with millions out of work couldn't she do something for humans in need? As someone currently unemployed I'm sure if she was to have met me-put aside where I would meet such a woman-I'm sure that if I asked her for $20 she'd call the police and yet she can give $13 million to a cat? I know that this was a stray cat she had for 4 years but that doesn't change my mind-I took in a stray cat that became a family pet. You can somehow provide for him with less than that. Just one man's opinion.