Another New York Times article (written by Ben Stein) sheds light on why there is no shame in the C-Suite. The C-Suite is also occupied by members of a company’s board of directors. Although theoretically elected by the shareholders, members of the board are nominated by the chief executive officer who (with the help of other C-Suite members) controls enough shares to ensure whoever he (sometimes she) nominates is indeed elected.

All these folks know each other from being on other boards or being members of other highfalutin organizations. They’re rich. It doesn’t seem strange to them for one of their own to make millions of dollars per year.

Stein sums up what it’s like to be on the board of a publicly held company:  “To be a member of the board of a large company is a little example of paradise. You get good pay for just sitting in a meeting and listening to summary presentations. You get insurance and a pension. You can go to luxurious resorts and play golf. What the heck are security lines? You fly in private jets. Sometimes, you get stock options, and these can be meaningful. In other words, it’s nice to be the director of a public company. How do you keep your job? You are really nice to the person who put you in that job . . . . When it comes to compensation, you want him to be really happy. It doesn’t matter how well he’s doing, unless he’s wreaking havoc and you may be sued. It doesn’t matter if the stock price has languished. You want what’s best for No. 1, and that means what’s best for Mr. Big.”

To make sure you’re doing the right thing for the CEO (cynics might say to make sure you have appropriate cover), you hire a compensation consultant to assist the board. And guess what? The compensation consultant says you should pay the CEO a lot of money. Whew! The CEO stays happy. You stay happy.

And that, in part, explains why the median pay for CEO’s at the 350 largest companies has risen 150 percent during roughly the last ten years, while the median pay for the average employee has risen 8 percent. To be sure, the CEO has more responsibility. But does he have that much more?

If all that sounds like something illegal is going on, you’re wrong. In the vast majority of cases, it’s perfectly legal. Ben Stein suggests a couple of things that could change that, but for now, nobody’s going to jail for becoming ridiculously wealthy in a short period of time.

Ben Stein also points the finger of guilt where it probably belongs. “And let me be honest about it. If I were a hard-charging CEO who had worked my way up the greasy pole and spent most evenings and weekends away from my family, often in creepy hotels, and if my board came to me with a blue silk pillow on top of which was a check for $15 million for this year’s work, begging me to accept it with its thanks, I would probably take it. Wouldn’t you?”

Yes, I probably would. And forgive me for speaking for you, but I believe you would probably take it, too. We might scream about executive greed or obscene compensation or the contemptible boardroom buddy system–until we become part of it. Sadly, most of us wouldn’t be able to resist its trappings. Rationalization is a powerful thing.