Pulling things together

Sometimes certain ideas coalesce in time and when that happens, I'll try to point them out. The first one is this letter of resignation by an AIG executive.

(cwcid/ht) Tigerhawk

The second idea is this article in Scientific American. As interesting as the article is, the commentary by Instapundit really appeals to my love of irony.

(cwcid/ht) Instapundit

Finally, if my reader has read this far and clicked some or all of the links, I leave him or her with this quote.

"If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose...the fact that they were the people who created the phrase 'to make money.' No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity--to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtaines as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words 'to make money' hold the essence of human morality."

The character of Francisco D'Anconia
in Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

I can't vouch for the etymology of the phrase "to make money," but the point is that most of the people at AIG were creating wealth. They were condemned and punished for this in a way that was abominable.