Fred "The Shred" Goodwin

Toxic Debt
Fred Goodwin

When military personnel do their job they risk losing their life. A symbolic bonus is awarded in the form of a medal and this both recognises and honours genuinely real achievements far in excess of 'just doing their job'. It's very high risk work. The penalty when things go wrong can be loss of life. Place that against the bonus for failure of a banker or other non-creative financial employee who turns up for work, but does nothing important. Grotesque payments for what? Moving money around making a few winners and in that tacky process creating a great many more losers.

'Sir' Fred 'The Shred' Goodwin walks away with a £703,000+ pension - every year until death (and then a reduced pension to any surviving partner?). The RBS losses are reported to be £28bn. Regulation of the banks had been given over to the banks. To regulate themselves. The same principle as MPs being responsible for recommending their own salary rise. Or the police policing themselves. To 'ask' Goodwin to 'give up' some of this pension is clearly a non-starter. The nature of the mind-set of an individual to oversee such 'losses' and feel the payment is justified negates any voluntary action. The scale is quite easy to see once the nature of the beast is understood. Goodwin and his ilk are repellent.

RBS pension: examined by lawyers
Legal probe into Goodwin era at RBS
Row over pension advance - descent deeper into the pit
Good Riddance Day
Goodwin de-knighted

It doesn't need a complex animal to be blinded through greed with it's snout in the trough. The trading post. It has no conscience and possibly buys all its 'friends' since it's not likely to have any real friends. Loyalty doesn't exist. It cannot exist by definition. Compassion? A great deal less than a lump of ice. Not particularly clever and cannot act alone. The fact that £28bn has been lost is defined as the same amount gained. Somewhere. Some black-hole slush fund. Money is never made or lost, unless perhaps more gold is mined. But this will just devalue what is already in circulation.

Keep in mind that a few £bn here and a few more £bn there soon mounts up. The debt very quickly becomes the size of an everest:

£5bn + £5bn + £5bn + £5bn +

£5bn + £5bn + £5bn + ...

-> £trillions

Toxic Debt Information

The system continues to get milked and the farmer is rewarded

The wicked irony? Goodwin's own loot is devalued as a direct result of his own (alleged) machinations. Very simple concept as the taxpayer continues to fill the vacuum with virtual money. The pathetic stance posing with a gun presumably symbolically sticking two fingers (or less) up at those who, quite rightfully, challenge the payment.

"I am a hard man. Don't mess with me.
I am the guy with the gun."

A similar pose appeared a few days later in a different paper. He does, however, have a passion for shooting. Or uses shooting for bonding trips with business associates. Guns seem to be somewhat a Goodwin-trademark. Possibly drives a BIG and powerful car. BIG office and a BIG car might suggest BIG pri** syndrome, and if this is the case would be typical of small-minded people with a deluded and exceptionally large ego. Such naïvety is actually quite breathtaking. To imagine such an empath in charge of RSB is rather difficult. Very difficult, but that such an attitude could lose £28bn is not. Some people just cannot be taken seriously. The claim that RBS allegedly asked for another £325bn in Government loan guarantees to cover its toxic assets makes Goodwin's £13,000 a week appear an incredibly lame diversion to move attention from the 'trivial' onto the enormity of the 'real' disaster: £28bn and climbing.

Hotting Up?

The potential clash here is between parties that have moved on from their earlier lives and into head-on combat. This will get fascinating. If it ever comes to anything. Human Rights, Blairs and Brown. Any scores that need to be settled will work themselves out here.

It's fascinating to ponder (very briefly) on what this man will do for the next 30 or 40 years. From being a somebody (presumably) to being a nobody. This will be fully understood by Goodwin soon enough.

Deserted And Friendless

People like Goodwin should be pitied, but never excused. They know what they do. Ruthless, unconscionable, self-serving. Classic parasite. Taking, however 'immorally justified'. True morality doesn't enter the frame. Apparent greed is quite a different beast. But it must not be overlooked how the payment was (apparently) authorised.

Myners/Goodwin
Minister's RBS handling 'naive'

Redistribution of the fixed global wealth means that ultimately everything moves further towards the 'rich'. The minimum wage enables companies to divide and split loyalties. Drive a wedge into society that excludes the wealthy. Reward the few with disgusting salaries and bonuses and pay the majority disgracefully poor wages to pay for it. Pay the few even more, but pay a greater number far less. Absolutely divisive. The argument that bonuses need to be paid to encourage individuals to remain is a completely ridiculous non-starter. Annual pay increases reward effectiveness. A poor performance results in a poor increase. A poor job done can be aways be rewarded by the sack, not by being given more money for doing the job that is expected, but not delivered.

Allegorically, the growth in the volume of concrete produces enormous quantities of CO2. The volume of water removed from the global total gradually increases the concentration of salt in the oceans. This will ultimately have its effect on the sea-life by destroying it. The impact here is to deplete the food stock of 'the people'. Ironically, as the frozen polar regions allegedly melt, this will dilute the oceans and in some way redress the balance. But the natural cooling effect of the melting ice of the Antarctic will be compromised and when the cyclical cooling restarts, there will be less global sea water with an enriched level of salt. Freezing point will be depressed so less ice will reform.

The growing population is allowed to happen as the growth is perceived to increase the consumer population and so promote financial growth. This is absolute madness. The blind idiot in control. The limit of growth was reached long ago and the results of overpopulation are already being overtly noticed. The population grows, employment declines as production of unwanted consumer products takes a massive downturn, benefits escalate to be paid for by a declining taxpayer population. Financial 'bailouts' continue to incarcerate the people for an ever increasing sentence. It is becoming clearer that unjustified 'wealth' continues to be acquired by the few at the un-Affordable expense of the many.

Eric Daniels (Lloyds TSB)