The Myth-makers of the universe

Remember the "Masters of the Universe"? No, it's not a bunch of fictional sci-fi heroes - though it might as well be. It refers to the bankers who made eye-watering amounts of dosh, both before, and after, the economic crash. These are the supermen - and funnily enough the vast majority are men - who are so special that they have to be paid millions because er ... they're so special that we can't do without them - or so we are told.

You see, despite the fact that these special guys made a huge contribution to collapsing the world economy, a collapse which has lead you and me have a pay cut, or pay freeze, or lose our homes, and welfare, we still need these men - apparently. And , what's more, they still need to be paid millions to work for banks owned by us, like RBS. If we didn't pay them that much they would leave and we would all suffer as a result.

What's odd though is that so far all that has happened is that we have suffered because of these guys, so you might, like me, think that we'd be better off without them. So why is it that we have to put up with the nonsense spouted by 'free' market fanatics like Digby Jones, that our economy can only function if the supermen at the top are paid vast amounts in salaries and bonuses? The answer is simple - naked self interest. It's vitally important for the 'top' people who run our banks and corporations to have us believe that they are better than the rest of us - that is how they exploit us.

For every highly paid banker there must be dozens of young unemployed people in the UK who could do their job just as well if they were given the opportunity. But in ConDem Britain they will never have that opportunity. If you don't believe me look at some of the latest research in Adita Chakrabortty's excellent article in the Guardian recently. The research shows that bonuses don't improve the performance of bankers - they are not necessary. In fact, the research shows that the very people whose performance is improved by bonuses are people who do boring repetitive jobs like fruit picking. Furthermore, when bankers switch from one institution to another their performance tends to go down - so much for our bankers leaving the UK if we regulate the banks like we ought to.

The fact is that, far from being Masters these people are Myth-makers who propagate the myths that; a) we need them and b) they need huge bonuses. The sooner we call their bluff the better. If they want to leave - let them! We should be having a whip round to pay their (economy class) fares. I'm happy to make a contribution because it would be a contribution to a better society.