Cultural Cuisinart

So while the current economic situation is horrifying to me, and makes me stressed all the time about various scenarios where I lose my job for some reason, and am reduced to living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere, clutching my Xbox that I can't plug in because I have no television or power outlets to plug it into because I am fucking destitute, I must admit that my understanding of the nuances of how it got this bad so quickly is fairly limited.

The current kerfluffle over the AIG bonuses, after AIG received approximately seventy gadjillion dollars of US taxpayer bailout money, is again something that I feel pissed about, but can't really argue about with anything more sophisticated than, "Well, they fucked up. Don't ask me how, but I'm pretty sure they did. And if they fucked up, they shouldn't get bonuses."

If you're like me, allow me to direct you to this excellent post by The Anonymous Liberal, who does a great job breaking down exactly how AIG contributed to the economic meltdown. It's explained in very clear terms that even an economic neophyte like myself can understand. Enjoy.