House of Eratosthenes

The president said something recently that I believe was interesting and underreported.‎ At a Democratic campaign fundraiser, the president said he was “not a particularly ideological person.” Assuming he meant it, that was a remarkable thing to say…[H]e sees himself doing what needs to be done without any ideological motivation. Interesting. ‎
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In the 2008 campaign, candidate Obama famously told Joe the plumber that he was going to raise taxes because “when you spread the wealth, it’s good for everybody.” What could be more ideological than wealth redistribution?
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The president’s belief that little of what he does is ideologically driven suggests he is living with a pampered, unchallenged mind. He has been told he is so smart for so long that he sees only clarity in his actions and unchallengeable reason in his conclusions.
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It appears that President Obama believes that dissenting views are irrational or the result of clouded, lesser thinking. Being blind to his own ideology makes him unable to respectfully deal with others who might readily embrace an ideological point of view. The president’s inability to effectively work with Congress, orchestrate Washington, or build strong alliances or even friendships overseas probably stems from his belief that others should defer to his clear thinking without many questions or objections. He doesn’t see politics as a great debate with multiple possibilities among equal voices.

Brilliant analysis. If I were Obama, I would look for opportunities to demonstrate such comments are off-the-mark. Much of it cannot be proven, of course, but it is certainly worthy of note that President Obama is not seeking out, or making much of, such opportunities.

Another thing I don’t often see is evidence of, or even pride taken in, collaboration. As far back as I can remember, lefties champion group-think. Everything’s a meetin’. I must confess I’m a bit confused as to whether we’re still living in that era, now that we have become accustomed to Obama deciding things in a vacuum (as far as we can tell), sometimes taking all year long to do so. Obama cannot, and would not, name names in a circle of close confidantes, those persons of good repute in their character or in their sense of judgment, people He consults when the time comes to make the hard decisions. To the best we can tell out here, taking longer to decide is about the only method He has at His disposal for these tougher-than-average decisions.

Wonder what it’s like working for this type? Anyone subordinate would have to wonder what his or her place is in the organization, with the guy at the top possessing a complete monopoly on that coveted skill of quality decision-making. I wonder what goes on in your head if you’re about to bring game-changing information to the boss. What if the boss isn’t expecting it? What if He’s wallowing around in the end-zone of His divine decision-making process, just taking His leisurely weeks & months to close in on the answer because it’s, like, really hard and stuff, and this new nugget of information you’re offering might change the result? You’d be obliged to bring it, toot-sweet, of course. But what if it doesn’t change the game after all? Why, then you’d come off looking like an advocate for the “wrong” outcome. Oh well, I’m sure Barack Obama is plenty mature enough to recognize the difference between an advocate for the wrong outcome, and an earnest underling merely doing due diligence, bringing the boss the information needed. Sure He is! Better keep that resume brushed up…

In truth, I have met people with the same bargain-basement level of respect for dissenting viewpoints as Barack Obama. Not many, but some. Could it be that the ones who do manage to make good decisions, fail to register in my long-term memory? I suppose that’s possible. I don’t consider it likely. Snobbery is easy to recall, after all, one way or another…and, as I think back on all these experiences, it makes an impression on me that I don’t recall improved situations or good results. Not one. What I recall, surrounding the snobs all the time, like clouds overhead, are messes. The direct results of rotten decision-making. And, when the snobs had power, I recall a permeating sense of futility, within myself and within others, a resignation to the truth that things would never get better, that everything broken would stay broken, and whatever isn’t broken would probably break soon. That’s what closed-mindedness does.

Wonder what it’s like working for this type?

Memos. Endless, endless memos. You bury the relevant information in a “here’s what’s going on around the department” communique, somewhere in between an update to the Casual Friday dress code and Steve’s garage sale. Your boss does the same thing, and so does his boss, so that everybody can say “yes, I advised the head honcho on game-changing fact X; see, it’s right here in the memo, with the signatures of everybody else in the chain of command.”

That way, it’s the poor intern who puts together the “daily digest” memo for the big boss’s approval who gets fired.

It’s the most depressing work situation imaginable. Especially when you’re in a low but crucial spot in the management hierarchy. You advise the big boss of all the problems (phased as “challenges”), the big boss says, “do it anyway,” and you have to plaster a big smile on your face and go announce it to the troops, all of whom have seen the same huge, glaring problems you have… So you ask them to contribute lots ‘n’ lots of stuff to this week’s “around the department” memo….

That’s private sector though. The problem with government is that a lot of the low-but-crucial middle management either can’t be fired — and not even Obama is stupid enough to sign an executive order firing some underling in Toad Suck, Arkansas — or share the same ideological zeal as the big boss. Since lefty successes can’t be quantified and their failures have built-in excuses, such an ideological double whammy merely results in (at best) a blue-ribbon commission or (at worst) some kind of “czar,” both of which will require reams and reams of additional memos.
- Severian | 11/30/2013 @ 10:06

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“Blind to His Own Ideology”Saturday, November 30th, 2013

“Blind to His Own Ideology”
Saturday, November 30th, 2013