All Envy

I had a conversation with a colleague about the big banks.

It came up because I mentioned how my wages get paid into my account late in the evening.  My colleague told me that it’s because the banks hold onto the money as long as possible in order to make some money off my wages.

Of course the vibe of his speech was ‘how dare the banks earn a profit from wages’.  I retorted by saying that I don’t begrudge banks earning big profits.  I prefer this to a profitless bank.

If it’s true that banks hold onto my money for profit, then how clever of them.  As long as I get paid the right amount at the end of the day and the bank doesn’t go broke.  I’m not missing it, as long as it comes.

Then his theme turned to the fees charged by banks.  But what do we really want from our banks?  We want them to look after our money.  They are doing that well and truly.  The varying levels of success in achieving this depends on opinion.

Then came the topic of large salaries received by bank executives.  People would say they could do the job.  But really they couldn’t, and wouldn’t.  They earn a lot of money mainly because it’s a hard job and to get the best person the banks need to offer remuneration.  Of course we would all like to earn that money, but it’s pure envy to insult the bank bosses based on their salaries.

We call the banks greedy for earning profits, charging fees and paying executives large salaries.  But we don’t look at ourselves and our greed and envy.