Let’s also throw Wal-Mart under the bus for a second to reinforce our point…

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”

Charming and quite a humanitarian attitude, yes?

“Based on year 2000 data,ExxonMobil was ranked sixth on the Toxic 100 list of US corporate air polluters by Political Economy Research Institute.”

“ExxonMobil has yet to pay any of the $2.5 billion USD in punitive damages owed to 33,000 fishermen, businesses, and affected communities as a result of the spill. Exxon had argued that it should pay no more than $25 million in punitive damages in the case, and the case is currently on appeal to the United States Supreme Court.”

“In 2005, ExxonMobil surpassed Wal-Mart as the world’s largest publicly held corporation when measured by revenue, although Wal-Mart remained the largest by number of employees. ExxonMobil’s $340 billion revenues in 2005 were a 25.5 percent increase over their 2004 revenues.

“In 2006, Wal-Mart recaptured the lead with revenues of $348.7 billion against ExxonMobil’s $335.1. ExxonMobil continues to lead the world in both profits ($39.5 billion in 2006) and market value ($410.7 billion).”

Allow me to throw out a few more observations…

Definitions of greed:

noun – excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves;

noun – reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)

Definitions of empathy:

noun – understanding and entering into another’s feelings

And some notes from Wikipedia…

“Robber baron was a term revived in the 19th century in the United States as a pejorative reference to businessmen and bankers who dominated their respective industries and amassed huge personal fortunes, typically as a direct result of pursuing various anti-competitive or unfair business practices. The term may now be used in relation to any businessman or banker who is perceived to have used questionable business practices or scams in order to become powerful or wealthy.

“The term derives from the medieval German lords who illegally charged exorbitant tolls against ships traversing the Rhine river.

“Their critics called them ‘robber barons’, referring to their use of overpowering and sometimes unethical financial manipulations.

“The Gilded Age…was excessive and wasteful — it was a period characterized by showy displays of wealth and excessive opulence. However, it is important to consider that the Gilded Age was…a time of despair and dirt was “gilded” by the image of the rich who benefitted from industrialization.”

I don’t know how else to more clearly communicate “why I care”…greed versus empathy; fair versus unfair.

You’d have done well in the Gilded Age, Trey. Assuming you had access to the proper robber baron asses to kiss…

2. It was a suggestion I threw out that I thought would pump money back into our local economy during what is a currently a bleak economic time. $10,000 in the hands of 40,000 different people is going to do a lot more good locally than $400 million in Lee Raymond’s IRA. I know it’s not my decision to make, but even you can see the benefits of that, right?

Why are you so obsessed with telling other people how to spend their money?

To some up this whole 52 comment thred: If Exxon gives $400 million in cash (Lee Raymond in 2005) to ONE person, they’re free market, true capitalists.

If they split $400 million in cash amongst the employee base, which in turn would be recycled back into the local economy, they’re communists.

According to Trey and Bethany, Exxon dispersing $400 million of their profits would lead to the company’s downfall due to a lack of foresight. However, I’m saying that it’s something they’ve already done, with no consequences to their bottom line.

I’m just asking why it can’t be used to benefit tens of thousands of people (their employees) instead of just one.

Why is that such a foreign concept? Why does that make us bad people?

Trey, whenever you’re done jerking off to the Exxon logo, you might actually consider following the links I provided. Not that it will change your opinion. Let them eat cake, right…?

I sometimes envy folks who can tune out anything that doesn’t hit them squarely in the wallet…who will deny the existence of any information that is in conflict with their own personal dogma. In your case, though, I feel mostly pity.