上個月，AIG保險公司幹了一件犯眾怒的事。
該公司在接受了政府1800億美元的援助之後，居然要向高管支付4.5億美元的獎金。一時間，美國輿論譁然，奧巴馬總統發誓要阻止這件事，國會透過特別法案，要徵收90%的獎金稅。
但是，就是在這樣的一種氛圍之中，《紐約時報》刊登了一封AIG高管的辭職信(實際上是抗議信)。這封信引起了巨大的爭論，在中國我看到不少人說這封信寫得好，這不禁讓我想來評論一番。
為了避免產生先入為主的印象，請先看這封信，再看我在信後的評論。中譯是由一個臺灣朋友翻譯的（此連結被遮蔽），我根據大陸的語言習慣做了少量的修改。
==================
再見，AIG
【簡介】
以下的這封信是2009年3月24日發出的，發信人是AIG集團金融產品部的副總裁Jake DeSantis，收信人是Edward M. Liddy，AIG的CEO。
原載：2009年3月25日《紐約時報》
譯者：（臺灣）George Lee
【正文】
DEAR Mr. Liddy,
親愛的 Mr. Liddy，
It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context:
我很遺憾地在此遞交辭呈。我決定從"AIG 金融產品部"（譯者注：後文簡稱AIG-FP）離職。我希望您能抽出一些時間，將整封信看完。在我詳細敘述辭職的理由之前，請允許我說一些心裡話：
I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in -- or responsible for -- the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.
我對於自己在 AIG-FP 的商品與權益部門所做的一切，感到自豪。導致AIG大幅虧損的 CDS 交易，我沒有以任何形式參與，或是應該對此負責。現在 AIG-FP 的400多位員工中，和此事有關的人員屈指可數。大部分應該負責的人都早已離職，而且顯然躲過了如今外界公眾的咆哮。
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company -- during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 -- we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
經過了12個月的辛勤工作----其間公司多次跟我們保證，我們將在2009年3月獲得年終獎----現在，我們這些 AIG-FP 部門的員工，感覺自己被公司出賣了，而且還遭受到政府和國會的不公平對待。作為對此的回應，我準備離開公司，並且把我得到的稅後獎金，全數捐獻給因為這次金融風暴受害的人。對於這筆錢，我一分錢都不留。
I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
在做出這個決定前，我已經為公司奉獻了11年高質量的服務。但是如今我沒有辦法在這種不正常的環境下繼續善盡我的職責，而且公司也不再為此付我薪水了。和你一樣，我也被要求以年薪1美元的代價工作，而且我也同意了，因為我認為我不只對公司有責任，而且也對提供援助的政府有責任。但是現在兩者都讓我失望了，我沒有辦法再每天花上10個、12個、甚至 14個小時，不陪伴家人，卻為了讓我失望的人的利益繼續工作。
You and I have never met or spoken to each other, so I'd like to tell you about myself. I was raised by schoolteachers working multiple jobs in a world of closing steel mills. My hard work earned me acceptance to M.I.T., and the institute's generous financial aid enabled me to attend. I had fulfilled my American dream.
你和我從來沒有單獨見面或交談過，所以我想和你談談我自己的一些背景。我的父母都是學校教師，我是在鋼鐵廠里長大的，那些廠如今都倒閉了。我努力學習，被麻省理工學院錄取，靠獎學金讀完了大學。我在自己身上實現了美國夢。
I started at this company in 1998 as an equity trader, became the head of equity and commodity trading and, a couple of years before A.I.G.'s meltdown last September, was named the head of business development for commodities. Over this period the equity and commodity units were consistently profitable -- in most years generating net profits of well over $100 million. Most recently, during the dismantling of A.I.G.-F.P., I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.'s effort to repay the American taxpayer.
1998年，我作為一個債券交易員，加入了AIG。隨後，成為了商品和權益交易部門的主管。在危機發生的的數年前，被提升為商品部門的業務開發主管。在這段時間內，我的部門持續盈利，大部分的年頭都能獲利超過1億美金。最近，在 AIG-FP 解體的過程中，我也是主要負責把聲譽良好的商品指數部門賣給瑞士銀行的人。如你所知，類似這樣把業務單位賣掉的交易，對於AIG的生存、以及將來償還美國納稅人的援助，是非常必要的。
The profitability of the businesses with which I was associated clearly supported my compensation. I never received any pay resulting from the credit default swaps that are now losing so much money. I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the capital of A.I.G.-F.P. because of those losses. In this way I have personally suffered from this controversial activity -- directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers.
顯而易見，我的薪資報酬主要來自於我們部門的高盈利。我從來沒有從現在導致公司鉅額虧損的 CDS 交易中領過1分錢。而且，我和許多 AIG-FP 部門的同事一樣，在這些虧損的 CDS 交易中，損失了不少畢生積蓄，因為我們都把推遲支付的工資，投資在 AIG-FP中。如同廣大的美國納稅人一樣，我們從未從CDS交易中獲利，卻深受其害。
I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country's call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.
我對你目前在AIG的角色，抱著崇高的敬意。因為在CDS交易上，你和我一樣無辜，而且在國家需要你的時候，你勇敢地站出來響應政府的號召，但是現在卻因此而飽受抨擊。
But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn't defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.
你也相當清楚，這個部門內大部分的員工都和這些鉅額虧損毫無關聯。你沒有站在我們一邊，讓我感到相當失望。上週三，你面對國會議員和媒體關於我們年終獎的不實指控、以及後來紐約檢察官發表一些無事實根據的評論的時候，卻沒有辦法挺身而出為我們辯解。我們AIG-FP部門的同仁深深感覺自己被背叛了。
My guess is that in October, when you learned of these retention contracts, you realized that the employees of the financial products unit needed some incentive to stay and that the contracts, being both ethical and useful, should be left to stand. That's probably why A.I.G. management assured us on three occasions during that month that the company would "live up to its commitment" to honor the contract guarantees.
去年10月，當你知道這個年終獎的發放計劃時，我猜想，你認為AIG-FP部門的人員需要一些誘因才能夠留下來。而且，這個年終獎，既合乎道義又有實際效果，應該得到執行。這大概就是公司在那個月裡，先後三次跟我們保證會履行諾言，發放年終獎的原因。
That may be why you decided to accelerate by three months more than a quarter of the amounts due under the contracts. That action signified to us your support, and was hardly something that one would do if he truly found the contracts "distasteful."
這大概也是你決定讓這些年終獎提早3個月發放的原因。這個決定讓我們感受到你對我們的支援，這一點都不像一個真心認為這些合約"難以接受"的人會做的事情。(譯按：AIG CEO 在被炮轟的時候，曾經這樣形容這些年終獎合約。)
That may also be why you authorized the balance of the payments on March 13.
最後，這大概也是你在3月13日最終授權支付這些年終獎的原因。
At no time during the past six months that you have been leading A.I.G. did you ask us to revise, renegotiate or break these contracts -- until several hours before your appearance last week before Congress.
在過去6個月你領導AIG的期間，你從沒有要求我們修改、重談、或是放棄這筆年終獎，直到你出席國會聽證會的數小時前。
I think your initial decision to honor the contracts was both ethical and financially astute, but it seems to have been politically unwise. It's now apparent that you either misunderstood the agreements that you had made -- tacit or otherwise -- with the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, various members of Congress and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York, or were not strong enough to withstand the shifting political winds.
我想你剛開始的想法是，既然這些年終獎原則上沒錯、在財務上也說得過去，那麼應該給予尊重。但是這個做法現在看來在政治上不討好。那麼顯然，你要麼是誤解了同聯儲、紐約州檢察官、國會議員、財政部之間的成文或不成文的協議，要麼就是不夠堅定，無法抵擋這些政治壓力。
You've now asked the current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. to repay these earnings. As you can imagine, there has been a tremendous amount of serious thought and heated discussion about how we should respond to this breach of trust.
現在，你要求 AIG-FP 部門的同仁繳回這些他們應得的年終獎。你可以想像，我們對你破壞了大家對公司的信任是多麼怒火中燒，怨聲載道。
As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.
既然我們大部分員工都是無辜的，罪惡感當然不是讓我們繳回年終獎的動機。我們勤奮工作了12個月，現在理應按照合同被支付薪酬。這就好像一個水管工修好了水管以後，一個粗心的電匠卻把房子燒燬了，水管工不應該被責怪一樣，我們這些員工也是無辜的。
Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.'s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.'s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.
過去六個月當中，許多部門內的同仁，因為這份年終獎的緣故，拒絕了許多比 AIG 更穩定的工作機會。 AIG高層一直不斷保證，這筆年終獎會如期支付。同仁們現在因為被騙，而感到非常憤怒，不願意為了幫你的忙就把獎金繳回公司。
The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to "name and shame," and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats -- even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.
現在唯一讓他們繳回獎金的動機其實只有恐懼。檢察官已經放話，威脅要公佈所有得到獎金的"可恥的人的姓名"。可是，檢察官的正確做法，理應是在法庭上處理案件，而不是訴諸媒體。
So what am I to do? There's no easy answer. I know that because of hard work I have benefited more than most during the economic boom and have saved enough that my family is unlikely to suffer devastating losses during the current bust. Some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn't disagree.
所以，我該怎麼辦？這不是輕鬆的決定。我知道，在此前經濟繁榮的時候，由於我的辛勤工作，我的生活要比大多數人過得優渥，我也仍然有足夠的儲蓄讓我的家人不至於在這次風暴中受到毀滅性的打擊。有些人可能會批評我們這行業的人報酬過高，我對此沒有異議。
That is why I have decided to donate 100 percent of the effective after-tax proceeds of my retention payment directly to organizations that are helping people who are suffering from the global downturn. This is not a tax-deduction gimmick; I simply believe that I at least deserve to dictate how my earnings are spent, and do not want to see them disappear back into the obscurity of A.I.G.'s or the federal government's budget. Our earnings have caused such a distraction for so many from the more pressing issues our country faces, and I would like to see my share of it benefit those truly in need.
這就是我決定把稅後獎金100%地捐出來、幫助受到金融風暴打擊的人的原因。這不是什麼避稅花招；我只是希望，我最低限度能夠對自己的紅利獎金應該怎麼使用做主，而不是聽任這些錢消失在AIG 複雜的帳務中，或是消失在政府預算中。我們的年終獎吸引了太多大眾的注意力，讓大家沒辦法把目光放在需要幫助的人身上。我希望能夠盡點力量，幫到那些真正需要幫助的人。
On March 16 I received a payment from A.I.G. amounting to $742,006.40, after taxes. In light of the uncertainty over the ultimate taxation and legal status of this payment, the actual amount I donate may be less -- in fact, it may end up being far less if the recent House bill raising the tax on the retention payments to 90 percent stands. Once all the money is donated, you will immediately receive a list of all recipients.
3月16日，我收到了公司支付的稅後年終獎，總計$742,006.40。因為目前相關稅務和法規還不確定，所以我實際捐贈的金額可能會小於這個數字。事實上，很可能是遠小於，如果國會現在關於這筆獎金的90%懲罰性稅法透過的話。總之，當我把這筆錢盡數捐出以後，你會立刻收到收款物件和捐款明細。
This choice is right for me. I wish others at A.I.G.-F.P. luck finding peace with their difficult decision, and only hope their judgment is not clouded by fear.
這個決定對我來說是對的。我祝其它AIG-FP的同仁好運，希望他們能夠心情平和地在這個困難的處境下做出決定，但願他們不要被恐懼的陰影圍繞。
Mr. Liddy, I wish you success in your commitment to return the money extended by the American government, and luck with the continued unwinding of the company's diverse businesses -- especially those remaining credit default swaps. I'll continue over the short term to help make sure no balls are dropped, but after what's happened this past week I can't remain much longer -- there is too much bad blood. I'm not sure how you will greet my resignation, but at least Attorney General Blumenthal should be relieved that I'll leave under my own power and will not need to be "shoved out the door."
Liddy先生，我也祝你好運，祝你能夠實踐把紅利退回給政府的承諾，也祝你能夠繼續把AIG整頓好，尤其是那些不好處理的 CDS 交易。短期內，我會繼續幫忙確保沒有什麼問題發生，但是在這周發生的事情以後，我沒辦法再留下來很長時間了，因為有太多嫌隙和不信任。我不知道你將如何看待我的離職信，但是我想紐約檢察官應該會感到欣慰，因為我是自願離職的，而不是如他所威脅的讓他"掃地出門"。
Sincerely,
Jake DeSantis 敬上
==================
【我的評論】
首先，我必須承認，Jake DeSantis先生非常聰明，寫了一封看似非常有力、能夠博取同情的抗議信。當然，這不奇怪，搞金融投機的人總是很聰明的，要不然他們怎麼能拿到"遠比大多數人優渥"的薪水呢？要是他們不聰明，又怎麼能把整個國家拖入泥潭、讓我們所有人跟著一起受罪呢？
但是，我就不明白了，如果DeSantis先生真的那麼聰明，他為什麼就看不出一個簡單的事實呢？那就是，他拿到的年終獎，不是AIG的錢，而是政府的錢。如果不是美國政府援助，6個月前AIG就已經破產了，他一分錢都拿不到，早早就失業了。換句話說，他口口聲聲遭到背叛的"年終獎合同"其實早不存在了，如果知道自己的錢會被用來支付獎金，納稅人還會同意援助嗎？納稅人憑什麼向他提供742,006.40美元的年終獎呢？獎勵他把整個國家搞垮了？......所以我覺得，他用到了"背叛"這個詞，實在太可笑了。我不確定，他到底是不夠睿智呢，還是故意混淆視聽。
DeSantis先生聲稱自己從未介入那些導致虧損的交易，所以對公司的困境毫無責任，不應該被懲罰。那麼我要問，那些因為金融風暴失去工作或住房、對未來感到絕望、不知道明天在哪裡的貧苦人們，又有什麼責任呢？他們做錯了什麼，要受這樣的懲罰？難道是他們要對金融風暴負責嗎？
DeSantis先生還強調，自己是一個具有愛心的人士，響應政府的號召，願意接受1美元的年薪，並且還要把年終獎全部捐給金融風暴的受害者。真是太感人了，但是我仔細一看，怎麼就不是那麼一回事呢。首先，他真正的報酬除了1美元之外，還有742,006.40美元的獎金。原來在他看來，獎金不是報酬。其次，他真正捐的錢比這個數額少得多，因為國會準備徵收90%的獎金稅，他真正能捐的最多隻有十分之一的錢，何況還有檢察官威脅要公佈姓名，那麼捐款簡直是保護自己利益的最佳策略了。
總之，我覺得太不可思議了，在明擺著的事實面前，DeSantis先生居然能夠寫出這樣義正詞嚴、振振有詞的抗議信，還向《紐約時報》投稿。他是不是太狂妄自大了？或者因為沒有拿到742,006.40美元的獎金而懊惱不已，昏了頭，把世人都當作傻瓜了？
不錯，DeSantis先生可以聲稱自己也是金融危機的受害者，但是讓他憤憤不平的遭遇，同其他人相比，簡直就不值一提。他確實是一個受害者，不過，是一個比其他受害者舒服得多的受害者。
《獎金稅法案》的提出者之一、來自佛羅里達州的民主黨議員艾倫·格雷森有一句話，可以送給DeSantis先生自省："任何人都無權利用納稅人的錢致富。任何人都不應從嚴重的錯誤中致富。"
最後，我還有一些話想說。我覺得，就是因為有這樣私慾膨脹、貪得無厭、將個人利益置於社會公共利益之上、並且因此獲得高薪獎賞的金融從業者和這樣的一個行業，我們這個社會才像現在這麼糟糕。金融證券業是一個鼓勵投機、獎勵貪婪的行業，人人都在不顧一切地追求利潤，動用所有社會資源為私利服務。當經濟繁榮時，投機的暴利被少數人攫取，而一旦經濟發生危機，他們種下的惡果就要由整個社會來承擔，尤其是主要由社會中的弱勢群體來承擔。這是不公平的，也是有害的。有句話說"危機毀滅了一切，但也創造了一切"，我對這次金融危機的期望就是，它至少可以改變一些事情，不要危機結束以後，一切又回到原來的樣子。
（完）