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Why do huge Wall Street bonuses provoke so much more public indignation than similarly gigantic lottery jackpots?
At least financial tycoons can try to argue that their payoffs stem from their own wise decisions or productive hard work. But Powerball winners get rewarded for patently stupid behavior: wasting a few dollars (usually on a regular basis) on addictive games of chance with only the remotest possibility of success.
Moreover, when some lucky bozo collects on a swollen jackpot that’s accumulated in a state-sponsored lottery, it means that this particular treasure won’t be available to anyone else; when somebody wins, the other...
Hating Wall Street Bonuses More Than Lottery Jackpots
I don't like the bonuses given because 1) they are far too large (payments should be no more than a percentage of what that person contributed to the profits) and 2) they should be out of profits.
If someone receives a bonus when the company is losing money, then the bonus is bogus. Further, even a CEO doesn't normally contribute that much to the bottom line of a company. His people do. Why should he get paid well for something others do? And if the company is NOT making money, why is he getting paid a bonus at all? If anything, he should be giving money back!