Incredible piece. "Sure, he could run things efficiently, but he hardly has your best interests in mind" reminds me of a very MBA/consultant/private equity adjacent vibe
This is the opposite of the way big corps operate. Microsoft and Amazon make the leaders Stack Rank people and basically cut the bottom 5 to 10 percent yearly (if not layoff, they "ease them out" via bad assignments etc.) There is something seriously broken with "capital" in how it treats people
A brilliant piece on what leadership really is, as well as what's broken with "EHC". And the power of the American EveryMan.
The entire concept of EHC, of course, a delusion and scam. The notion of "managerial business" and the MBA really came into vogue in the 1920s - it's a remnant of a different age that we just can't get rid of. That these universities were going to select and then churn out "captains of industry" to "run" society "properly"... it's all of a kind, that technocratic, centrally-planned society bullshit. Friedrich Hayek had a great line "the pretence of knowledge" in his 1974 Banquet Speech. It's a belief in their own omniscience, plain and simple. It's always the fatal conceit. Always. And (almost) always seems to be from people who can't, as you note, get anything done. At all.
We give officers good Staff NCOs for a reason in the military; as long as these folks go to Yale or Harvard, they're given opportunities in no way justified by anything they've ever done. With no mentorship or even sense that they need it or should have it. The first Marine Corps leadership principle is "Know yourself and seek self improvement."
I’ve never watched the show you drew on so that part was lost on me.
However, the rest of your article was great. I agree that elites today have forgotten how to nurture talent. Many assume talent is simply natural and doesn’t require cultivation.
As such, many elites don’t see that they need to offer any guidance or tutelage to those outside their high-flying circles.
I share your antipathy towards EHC as a concept and the dweebs who fixate on it. Soul-based aristocracy is deeply pernicious, especially because it's often an unfalsifiable vehicle for grandiose self-delusion and antisocial behavior.
Meanwhile, the Hank Hills of the world are just out here living their best lives. No need to cope on their education or their genes when they have community.
Incredible piece. "Sure, he could run things efficiently, but he hardly has your best interests in mind" reminds me of a very MBA/consultant/private equity adjacent vibe
This is the opposite of the way big corps operate. Microsoft and Amazon make the leaders Stack Rank people and basically cut the bottom 5 to 10 percent yearly (if not layoff, they "ease them out" via bad assignments etc.) There is something seriously broken with "capital" in how it treats people
A brilliant piece on what leadership really is, as well as what's broken with "EHC". And the power of the American EveryMan.
The entire concept of EHC, of course, a delusion and scam. The notion of "managerial business" and the MBA really came into vogue in the 1920s - it's a remnant of a different age that we just can't get rid of. That these universities were going to select and then churn out "captains of industry" to "run" society "properly"... it's all of a kind, that technocratic, centrally-planned society bullshit. Friedrich Hayek had a great line "the pretence of knowledge" in his 1974 Banquet Speech. It's a belief in their own omniscience, plain and simple. It's always the fatal conceit. Always. And (almost) always seems to be from people who can't, as you note, get anything done. At all.
We give officers good Staff NCOs for a reason in the military; as long as these folks go to Yale or Harvard, they're given opportunities in no way justified by anything they've ever done. With no mentorship or even sense that they need it or should have it. The first Marine Corps leadership principle is "Know yourself and seek self improvement."
I’ve never watched the show you drew on so that part was lost on me.
However, the rest of your article was great. I agree that elites today have forgotten how to nurture talent. Many assume talent is simply natural and doesn’t require cultivation.
As such, many elites don’t see that they need to offer any guidance or tutelage to those outside their high-flying circles.
I share your antipathy towards EHC as a concept and the dweebs who fixate on it. Soul-based aristocracy is deeply pernicious, especially because it's often an unfalsifiable vehicle for grandiose self-delusion and antisocial behavior.
Meanwhile, the Hank Hills of the world are just out here living their best lives. No need to cope on their education or their genes when they have community.