We recently decided to update our article on wall street bonuses based on what’s been going on at Wells Fargo. If you have not heard, Wells Fargo decided it was a good idea to create fake accounts using real customer data and then charge these same customers fees on fictitious accounts.

If you think I’m lying, check out this article from CNN that provides detail on corporate greed.

Guess what the driver was behind the greed? You guessed it – wall street bonuses.

The past is often an indication of where things will go in the future, and you only need to look at what was going on after the entire world knew about the mortgage crisis.

These guys were still paying themselves bonuses after laying off thousands of employees and kicking millions of Americans out of their homes.

While many Americans struggle making ends meet, the men responsible for these risky tactics kept their wealth.  Many will say that capitalism has no favorites, but is merely the survival of the fittest; however, at what point does plain old-fashioned common sense come into play?  Check out the below infographic to see greed at it’s best.

Wall Street Bonuses Infographic

If you think these bankers are greedy, check out these billionaire hedge fund managers.

Please do not take this article as some socialist denouncement on capital markets. I’m just making the case that we can live in a world where people can make a great living and not at the expense of our fellow citizens. I don’t have all the answers nor do our politicians; however, there has to be a way to help those trapped in the cycle of poverty to get ahead.

I feel like Vice President Hubert Humphrey said it best in 1977 when he stated, “the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”