Too Big To Fail

This is a phrase that I've heard a number of times this week and has really made me wonder about the attitude not only of our financial institutions but our country as a whole. Whether it's Bear Stearns, Countrywide, Washington Mutual, AIG, Lehman Brothers or some other giant financial institution there is no doubt you have heard about the crazy economic times we find ourselves in. Most of this is a result of questionable management of some of these very corporations and has to make you wonder "Why?". Are greed and arrogance really the driving forces that have pushed our economy to this point? Greed that drives people to get as much as they can by whatever means possible coupled with an arrogance that thinks we are too rich, big, smart to fail will only ever equal disaster at the worst and disappointment at the least.

I've been asking myself this week if this economic mess we find ourselves in is really proving to be a barometer for our overall attitude as a country. Is it possible that this is just one area in which this attitude of "Too Big" has caught up with us and other areas such as: our relationships with other countries, our military presence, educational standards, our response to natural disasters, or our cultural influence around the world (just to mention a few) are next in line? If nothing else, watching some of these different institutions fail has solidified my belief that there is a better way, not only a better way for millionaire CEOs to manage giant corporations or a government to run a nation but also for little old me to live my everyday, boring life.