The Myth of the Businessman President
Like all of us, I’ve got a closet full of relatives who voted for our current *president in 2016 and will do so again in 2020. They’re a complicated bunch and resist easy categorization beyond “didn’t attend college” and (really!) “children of immigrants”. What may set us apart from most families is that we can actually enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner without weapons being drawn and ultimatums being made. Certainly we’re not talking about conversations that would keep a Rhodes scholar engaged, but a very common defense given for the current resident of Penn Avenue is that “he’s a good businessman”.
For argument’s sake, I will even spot you that position on the board — frankly it’s impossible to prove until the inevitable tell-all book comes in 15 years anyway. (And by “prove”, I mean let’s come up with a definition of “success” and then back it, or not, with actual numbers. We may think we “know” (wink, wink), but other than public bankruptcies we don’t have a lot to go on)
For purposes of this piece, Donald J Trump is an amazing businessman, the likes of which we’ve never seen before and likely never will again. His “really big brain” and unique qualification as a “stable genius” in business make him supremely qualified to lead the most powerful nation in the history of the world.
You know who else is a great businessman using a current definition of the word? Jeff Bezos. Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, several of the Waltons and we’ll even throw in Charles Koch for fun. You want any of them running the show? After all, they are great businessman and have amassed ridiculous fortunes-so why wouldn’t we want them to do the same thing for America?
(Spoiler) Because it’s not about what they can do for America, it’s what America can do for them. In 2020 we define success by wealth and the price of one’s company shares. (Nearly) everything else is excused because we’ve completely bought in to the notion that capitalism is good and our greatness derives from the simple notion that goods and services get cheaper and cheaper. Frankly, it’s become our national religion and “facts” like this are accepted at face value and used to shut down any arguments about change.
Medicare for all?
“Socialism-just look at Venezuela”
Livable minimum wage?
Business owners need to be free to pay as little or much as they want, because “freedom”, “america”, and you know, “socialism-just look at Venezuela”.
Here’s the secret though — all those wealthy people who are making fortunes for their shareholders?
We are not the shareholders.
We’re the interchangeable serfs and peasants who are called “resources” at company meetings. We’re the ones forced to take lower-paying gig jobs with no benefits or illusions of stability because our factory was automated or moved to a country with lower wages and worker protections. We’re part of a large line item on a balance sheet that just screams out to an accountant “we can do better here!” We’re the ones that the loss of our home during the pandemic is our fault because we didn’t plan better, made poor life choices or weren’t born white.
We’re thrown a single $1200 check over a 3 month period that’s supposed to cover all our expenses, yet more help is being denied because those in power want to “study the results of the last stimulus before distributing any new funds”. You hear about those parched deserts where the rain evaporates before it even hits the ground? Yeah, it’s like that. Here’s the real answer to your “study” — you didn’t put enough cash into the system to make an appreciable difference, but you’ll use the “data” to support more handouts for your rich buddies.
We are not the shareholders in our own country.
I might even argue that Trump is doing great at his job. His shareholders are making money hand over fist and the stock market had been moving upwards since he took office. Doesn’t matter if it was also moving upwards during the time of the previous CEO, our company has a law that you can only ̶r̶u̶l̶e̶ serve for 8 years and his time was up.
You know who was one of our richest presidents? George Washington — so I’m not saying we should have only poor ones. Being good at business is not a bad thing, but it has to be coupled with great leadership skills. “You’re fired” does not qualify as great leadership skills. (Nor is “telling it like it is” which my relatives also like to trot out)
When you chase quarterly profits and are rewarded handsomely for doing so, you end up exactly where we are now-broken, grasping at straws, and blaming others for our failure.
Finally, there are fundamental difference between business and government, being that business (as we define it in our society) exists solely for making profit for owners/shareholders and that government exists to promote and protect the common welfare. These are not convergent goals.
When we either allow or force public institutions (like a University) to turn a profit, the purpose of the institution is corrupted and the quality of its product or service erodes until it no longer serves the purpose for which it was established.
Hey — at least when large corporations fail they have friends in Washington who ensure they receive their bailout money.
How do you bail out a country?
