Weasel Worship
Something that I was trying (and failing) to allude to when I wrote about Al Dunlap a few months back was that we give celebrities and pundits far too much leeway in terms of what we believe from them.
I was thinking of Donald Trump today and his show, The Apprentice. There was an episode in particular, where Trump fired one of the contestants because this particular contestant, in a pompous manner, volunteered himself to go to the boardroom along with a few other not-so-well-doers to see who was fired from that week’s show. His thinking behind the decision was that he was so good, or at least so much better than the others in the board room, he would not get fired. Trump said that he thought this was an idiotic move, and fired him.
That’s exactly the problem though with the U.S. economy, and the body politic as a whole. Here, we have a culture that watches The Apprentice and lauds Donald Trump for the decisions he makes, and the “guts” he shows. Trump fired a man who was willing to take responsibility for something because he was better than the others and knew he could make things better in the long term. Trump’s decision essentially bears down to the rationale of the “Dilbert Weasel.”
Fast forward just a few years and everyone and their mother is asking who did what to the economy, and why are they not being punished. As the years progress, the public’s - give us what we want / take what we can get / Oh my God, why is everyone looting – attitude seems to get more and more absurd.
I was thinking of Donald Trump today and his show, The Apprentice. There was an episode in particular, where Trump fired one of the contestants because this particular contestant, in a pompous manner, volunteered himself to go to the boardroom along with a few other not-so-well-doers to see who was fired from that week’s show. His thinking behind the decision was that he was so good, or at least so much better than the others in the board room, he would not get fired. Trump said that he thought this was an idiotic move, and fired him.
That’s exactly the problem though with the U.S. economy, and the body politic as a whole. Here, we have a culture that watches The Apprentice and lauds Donald Trump for the decisions he makes, and the “guts” he shows. Trump fired a man who was willing to take responsibility for something because he was better than the others and knew he could make things better in the long term. Trump’s decision essentially bears down to the rationale of the “Dilbert Weasel.”
Fast forward just a few years and everyone and their mother is asking who did what to the economy, and why are they not being punished. As the years progress, the public’s - give us what we want / take what we can get / Oh my God, why is everyone looting – attitude seems to get more and more absurd.
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