Under the pressure of a looming bankruptcy the employees at American Airlines had agreed to massive wage cuts and benefit reductions in order to avert an action that could effectively cost them their jobs and then rescinded the offer when they found out that at the same time the companies CEO was slated to receive a million dollar plus bonus this year on top of his annual salary of over $800,000. It was further revealed that as the rank and file of American resigned themselves to the fact that their paychecks would be reduced by a third, the upper echelons of the corporation would not be sharing the burden in kind. This has since been rectified in the glare of the media’s attention but it is quite clear that there is a gross inequity at American Airlines if not throughout all the corporations of the United States.

With the recent debacles at Enron and WorldCom still fresh in our memories it may come as no shock and we may have very well become numb to the fact that some executives of our top companies here in the United States practice managerial styles that shield them from the economic environments of their industries markets. Whether we have become indifferent to this fact or not it still doesn’t lessen the inequity of the situation and quite frankly, it validates the view the American people are starting to see these people in: selfish, me-first, narcissistic and aristocratic.

Now, it may sound as if I am a union supporting, anti-business ultra-liberal but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I believe that for the most part the unions in this country have outlived their usefulness. They have driven up payrolls, extracted ridiculous guarantees that prevent the termination of even the most inept of employees all while utilizing the massive coffers created by the mandated payment of union dues to support political candidates that most of their members wouldn’t cross the street to save if they were on fire. In most states you can’t even exclude yourself from being a union member if they have cemented their totalitarian contracts with management without being penalized the same amount of money from your wages, the amount earmarked for charities or non-profit organizations. With laws on the books that have eliminated the very reasons unions were created in the first place one is hard pressed to come up with any valid reason they should actually still exist. Sexual harassment? There are lawsuits. Racial preference in hiring and promotion? There are lawsuits. Substandard work environments? There is OSHA. You name it, no matter what the problem is the reality is it can be rectified in the courts, believe me, there is no shortage of lawyers who will file a lawsuit on anyone’s behalf for any reason these days, just look at the backlog in the courts. But in this case, the case of American Airlines, I support them organizing and demanding satisfaction.

As for big business I am all for it. When one sits down and actually looks at the facts of the matter the bottom line is we live in a country that embraces capitalism. In my opinion, and in the opinions of those who actually grasp the concept, this is a very good thing. Although there are those who would believe that the government in the United States has a heavy hand in the health and welfare of the American economy I am not one of them. I believe that the health of the economy is largely the charge of the American people. When we buy products companies make money, when we don’t they don’t make money. It’s that simple. Of course there are dealings between companies that affect their bottom line but in reality that is just one company buying something from another and when you think about it, it is the same as a consumer buying something from a company but in a different venue. So, essentially, it is all about the product being sold. Yes, the government can adjust the interest rates but that is still simply a tool that the consumer gets to utilize. But while I am in favor of big business I also believe that the upper echelons of the corporations need to live by a higher ethical standard as the caretakers of their companies. As the head of a family looks out for the best interests of its members so must an executive look out for the employees to whom he or she administers. A Mother and Father wouldn’t take most of the food at the dinner table and leave mere scraps for their children. They would sacrifice of themselves for their children. In American Airlines’ case, the parents have shorted the children and it is morally and ethically wrong.

As for being ultra-liberal, I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry at the thought. In fact, I have to go so far as to label the liberals in this great land of ours as being the enablers to the me-first, narcissistic environment in which these morally bankrupt executives thrive. They have made it all too easy for these executives to avoid responsibility for their individual actions by engineering an entire society that refuses to take any responsibility for its day to day maladies and which constantly blames big business as a whole for the problem while labeling the conservative voices in Washington as their enablers. The fact of the matter is, and always has been, that the inequitable, unethical and morally insolvent actions taken by the few are just that, actions taken by individuals that affect the view of big business in total. So, instead of Tom Daschle or Nancy Pelosi screaming about how the Bush Administration is in bed with big business each time some narcissistic bastard fleeces his company it would be refreshing and more appropriate if the finger pointed to where the blame belongs, to those who helped create the liberal "not my fault” culture, a culture where it is allowed to happen.

No, what is happening at American Airlines isn’t reflective of our government; it is reflective of the times, of what we have become, of the selfishness of the 1990’s and the decade’s over-inflated egotism. It isn’t the government’s fault that the CEO of American Airlines found it acceptable to refuse a pay cut by a third and forgo a bonus for a job horribly done, even as his employees are forced to do so on his behalf. It is his. The fact that he can’t live on a $500,000+ salary until his company gets back on its feet while his employees have to sell their houses to move into smaller ones is simply a testimony to his ego, it is a testimony to our narcissistic society. It is wrong. It is inequitable. It is not the American way and it makes me sick.

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.