I really wanted to explore the acronym cult more in these comics, and I wanted to give the executives who are members of the cult a fair shake. While I think irresponsible fiscal policy driven by unsustainable growth is a major culprit, I certainly wouldn’t want to be the guy responsible for growing less than average. Shareholders can actually sue you if you don’t run your company into the ground in the pursuit of profits. It’s crazy! That’s why I don’t want anything to do with management. I’m a good soldier, and at the bottom of the ladder is where I’d like to stay.
I also don’t believe that executives enjoy laying off staff, cutting benefits or the like. I think they sleep well at night on their silken mattresses stuffed with cash, cash that could have been used to pay salaries, but I doubt they really get pleasure from making the lives of their staff harder. I do wish they would realize that the cost of living marches nigh inexorably upward, and any time they freeze pay, ask us to share more of the costs of insurance or reduce benefits it does indeed come out of our pockets and is in essence a pay cut. I think if they thought of it that way, they could at least be more honest with us about how the company is doing. But if nothing else, I’m sure it makes them feel better about doing it to frame it their way.