The entire point of the bailout was to make taxpayers foot the bill for bad business decisions, I don't see why there is an outcry now from the politicians who passed it.

Would I consider returning the money? Probably not, but that just makes me a selfish jerk.

I don't think that would make you a selfish jerk necessarily. Depends on your needs at the time. I can't relate to a 1.4 million dollar bonus. I probably won't make near that much money in my lifetime. These are people who make tons of cash. They are CEO,s. Middle or under class folks like me can't relate. But, if you could imagine that your lifestyle were that of one of those people, more than likely they are getting by just fine, would you still take the bonus? That was what I was trying to get at.

It would make you a selfish jerk if you were not already one... Look, we all buy into the moral corruption, and not one of us is free of it... But the rich are so many parasites...They know what a just profit is and they know who pays the bill, and it this instance it is the people...If the economy- capitalism is so good then it ought to support its government.. It does not, and the government does not govern capital; but now both have conspired to pursue excess and then together take wealth directly from the people without so much as a product, which the people cannot buy, and would not buy; even if they had the money.. Now, the people own that 'business'; and if they cannot control the pay, or even compel those who made the mistakes to make good their loses, then they are not very smart bosses..Acting for the people and in the peoples best interest the government should have ultimate power...It acts as though it is infinitely weak...In fact, it demands no authority over -free- enterprise...So enterprise can be free the people must be constrained... I am glad people are thinking of doing violence to those people,and not because I want violence, but because if the worm will turn then there is hope that the people will some day reign...

I talked with my cousin last night. she lives in Hot Springs. She works for a broker down there. She called one of her clients who lives in Texas and who, by the way, works for this insurance company. She is not a big shot, just another employee. My cousin asked her, how are you doing? She said, well,,,,,, okay. I guess. She was clearly afraid of the situation. Seems there has been some tension down there as well. Now, this girl has to experience a feeling of fear and apprehension. So, we begin to see how this situation graduates to the innocent. with that in mind, would you take the bonus?

You are pointing out the problem exactly whether you know it, or not... People have always considered that reason is the way to ethical behavior, that knowledge is virtue... What is more clear, is that people use reason to evade morality, and are moral out of emotional attachment...For this reason all ethical systems fail...No one can more easily reason to ethical behavior than they can reason to unethical behavior since ethics always involves an obligation... Ethics is not easy... The unethical is always pushing things down hill...

I would say, when you return money for the sake of being ethical, being morally right has gone a bit too far.
Though I agree that it would be technically the right thing to do.

You are right. What I meant was, that it is technically morally right to give the money back.
But at some point you got to be pragmatic, and do the immoral thing. Just because always doing the moral thing is self-defeating.

What is pragmatic about being immoral? Don't you mean, instead, that at some point we should give up on ethics and just be selfish?

How is doing the moral thing self defeating? The purpose of doing the moral thing is to act properly. By always doing the moral thing, we always act properly. If acting rightly is to be our aim, how is doing the moral thing self defeating?

Yes. But not instead, it's the same thing in other words

Because what's moral is not necessarily in you self interest.
This will explain what I mean, but you have to read to the end.

The Samurai Guild: A Sense of Justice and Honesty