Snigger of the narcissus

One of the more ludicrous traits of some modern critics is to insist on collective guilt whenever something bad occurs. In the political arena this has even taken the form of insisting on apologies being extended to the descendants of an ancient crime, despite the fact that none of those alive today has even an iota of responsibility for inflicting past suffering. It may well be that there is a collective responsiblility to express sympathy, endeavour to correct the wrong, and ensure that it can never happen again, but that is surely as far as it goes. We cannot be guilty of a crime that occurred before we were born.

In a similar vein it is not surprising that there are some who want to argue that we are all responsible for the present economic crisis. Psychotherapist and former banker Lucy Beresford claims in this weeks The Spectator that the appalling financial mess the world faces is all our fault: 'No one can escape blame for what happened. We were greedy...we need to own our behaviour and accept responsibility...But we're all still suffering from too much narcissistic hubris to do that'. Speak for yourself, Miss Beresford. There are hundreds, nay thousands, of millions of people throughout the world who have not had the remotest connection with the greed and incompetence which has put the world in this situation. These are the many millions who toil and struggle just to live each each day. Even within the wealthy cities of the developed world the majority of people are humble waiters, blue-collar workers, bus-drivers, school teachers, shop assistants, policemen and nurses, few of whom have any opportunity for the type of greed Miss Beresford refers to. It is safe to say that none of these has manipulated stock markets, received obscenely large salaries, bought second or third properties, nor been the recipient of even one bonus. They have paid their taxes and their bills and trusted those who have wielded the power so disastrously.

And if Beresford is suggesting that some of these, perhaps even the unemployed, have used credit cards unwisely, obtained a mortgage or, as with millions of poor Americans, believed the seductive blandishments of bankers that they can own their own home, this is not greed. It is not hubris, still less narcissism. It is simply the wish to better themselves and build better lives for the families. While their wages have barely moved in line with inflation over past decades they have witnessed astronomical increases in the salaries of others; wages which are tens and sometimes hundreds of times the value of their own. And they were told this was necessary because the market demanded such huge largesse in order to attract and retain people of high skills and competence. Now they have seen just how skilled and competent these 'high-fliers' and 'Masters of the Universe' really are. Not merely have they failed dismally, but they are now requiring the ordinary taxpaying man and woman to bail them out and undo the dreadful chaos they have wreaked.

In such circumstances it is not narcissistic hubris to seek scapegoats and culprits. It is common sense and the natural desire for justice which dictates that failure should not be rewarded. Certainly this is the standard which has always been applied to them. Fail to pay your mortgage and you will be evicted. Fail to pay your bills and you will be prosecuted. Fail to do your your job and you will be sacked. They ask, 'why should those at the top of society not be equally accountable and pay the price of monumental failure?' Of course, the vast millions of people, many of whom now face unemployment, know all too well that they will almost certainly never receive such justice but they have the not unreasonable expectation that at least measures will be put in place to ensure that the excesses of the past will not be repeated.

One such measure, it is earnestly hoped, is international action to remove the many tax havens around the world where many of the billionaires deeply involved in bringing about this crisis, deliberately and disgracefully, avoid meeting any of the responsibilities required of ordinary citizens. This should embrace new regulations taking account of the outrage expressed by Senator John Edwards at a tax system 'allowing hedge fund and private equity managers making hundreds of millions a year (but who) pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries'.

Above all, however, is the need to confront reality and accept that virtually none of the people receiving these vast sums of money actually 'earned' it. None of them deserved their privileged and opulent lifestyles because of skill and extraordinary competence. They were simply lucky. They had the 'right' background and were in the right place at the right time. A prime example is the risible case of the UK Governor of the Bank of England who, along with his colleagues, have completely and hopelessly misjudged the nature of the crisis. Now, when it obvious to us all, he opines that a deep and long recession is predicted for the UK. He dismisses criticism of failing to act earlier by referring to 'hindsight' and the unexpected nature of the situation. Actually, there were pundits, such as George Soros, warning about precisely this threat. But surely the point is that the Governor, Mervyn King, was paid his vast salary to have foresight and either to prevent, or to see the significance of unfolding events in order to react appropriately and in a timely fashion. Given the events that are now occurring his comments and the actions of the Board he governs are obvious to any reasonably intelligent person. But such a person is not being paid a huge amount of money. King is and he has failed and failed badly.

The cure for the infliction of narcissicism can be found in the old story of the Emperor's clothes. The mythical Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. The financial tsunami which now threatens is a brutal ripple in these waters of self-admiration. It reveals the distortion and illusion which is the true face of those who have such direct and indirect power over our lives. This is not to suggest in any way that these are evil people. But it is to say that they are people very similar to ourselves - flawed, full of foibles and naked. And it is also to ask whether a system which delivers such huge rewards to such ordinary people, in contrast to the bulk of the population, is just. If the answer is 'yes' then it is surely not unreasonable to demand that they at least be accountable for their actions and be obliged to accept that there are some personal and adverse consequences to their failures.