#394: F#*k it, I’ll Just #$@$%
In a time when there are no good choices, we still need to make the best decision we can.
This blog will date me, but during my MBA studies, the class began debating the costs of a CEO versus that of an assembly line worker. In our case study, we used the decision by the Board of Directors at Chrysler that gave Lee Iacocca an $11 million bonus. Back in the late 80s, this was a tremendous amount of money.
What could justify someone getting a bonus that was more than the annual payroll cost of over 300 UAW workers? After all, without those workers, cars could never be produced, and profits could never be earned. To debate this point, I asked: What value does management provide in the process if UAW supplies the labor?
The answer I came up with is that management supplies decisions.
As leaders, we must make decisions when unprepared or the options are just not that good. How do we do that? A decision had to be made when Chrysler was on the brink of bankruptcy and took $1.5 billion in loan guarantees from Congress. They could have closed up shop, put 130,000 people out of work, sold the company in pieces, and paid their debtors and stockholders something. Or they could have taken a risk on a cigar-smoking car salesman who planned to make Chrysler, not the biggest, but the best. We are often forced to choose the lesser of two evils: close up shop (give up) or become beholden to the government until the loan is repaid.
Those are not great options.
Speaking of not-so-great options … neither are ours on November 5th.
I’m sure there are full-throated supporters of either candidate reading this blog, and that’s’ okay. However, the majority of the country wishes we had better choices. Many of us are struggling to make this decision. The Podcast Walk-Ins Welcome inspired this blog with Bridget Phetasy and Mary Katharine Ham. They spent the hour trying to work their way towards a decision on who to vote for. Bridget came up with the line “F**k it, I’ll vote for _____.” I encourage you to listen to the show for more details.
When I must work through a decision-making process like this one, I return to the last two articles I wrote about principles and experience. Our country is preparing to hire its Chief Executive, so: do we hire for proven skills or hope for the best? Do we hire joy over principles? For those who have read me long enough, you already know that I have never voted for a winning presidential candidate. I am Libertarian by nature, don’t trust the government, and feel that we have mortgaged our future by buying votes without any ability to pay it back. In other words, I have no pony in this race.
So, how will I make this decision?
As a writer, I believe that freedom of speech is one of the core principles we can never lose. We do have the right to scream fire in a theatre. It might be stupid and cause chaos, but we have that right, and the government shall not infringe. The government should not try to censor our opinions; they should try to convince and motivate us to follow them through trust and respect, not manipulation and fear. The media shouldn’t deliberately withhold information that will clarify and aid our decision-making process because they don’t like someone.
I am a traditionalist regarding the Constitution, which charges the executive branch with protecting its citizens and defending the country from enemies, both foreign and domestic. The government should not use its power to destroy individuals with lawfare by weaponizing the very government that is paid for by the citizenry. They should not pressure an already overstressed social security system by opening the borders. The media should be reporting on the chaos caused directly by these policies, yet they have chosen not to. Instead, they write that it’s racist to be against - well - anything they are for.
These are just some of the principles I will use in the booth on Tuesday to make my decision. Our choices are poor, but they are clear. As I wrote, we don’t hire people to captain a ship during a storm when they can’t steer it in calm waters. And I feel this country is amid many storms that must be navigated.
Has our government abandoned us?
We have witnessed the most extensive political and media blitz in history. Both politicians and media have told us that men can be women but can’t define what a woman is. The press called the 2020 riots peaceful protests when there were over 1,500 officers injured and over 60,000 assaulted. One of our candidates offered to bail out these rioters, yet the other one is a threat to democracy.
We watched as a sitting Senator stood on the steps of the Supreme Court, threatening two sitting justices by name, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price." Is there any connection of this to the assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh? If you haven’t heard about it I’m not surprised, the media won’t write about it. Yet the media and that Senator claim that his opponents are inciting violence with their speech.
When I see so much concentrated power & influence focused on one individual, along with the contempt they show to Americans, I can only imagine what Jesus felt on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Now, Jesus isn’t welcome at one of the candidate’s rallies.
In this case, it isn’t God but the mass media and our elected officials who have turned their backs on us all. These two groups feel threatened by our voices coming together and upsetting the status quo. While the current administration fails to take responsibility for rising crime, the highest inflation, and interest rates in 40 years, the media ignores that Americans have been held hostage for 387 days.
Maybe I’m naive, but I thought journalism spoke truth to power instead of lying to maintain it.
F**k it, here’s my decision
One person will not completely fix this mess, but he has experience captaining this ship successfully in both calm and rough waters. He may have serious character flaws, but who doesn’t? Yet, he’s attracted and assembled some of the country's most conscientious supporters in RFK Jr. (government corruption), Elon Musk (free speech), and Tulsi Gabbard (national defense). These aren’t celebrity endorsements; they are serious people who have America first in their hearts and minds and have the skills and experience that are desperately needed. They have put their careers, money, hopes, and dreams into endorsing someone from the opposing party and volunteered to be part of a new way forward.
The least we can hope for is that this team can hold these power-hungry systems back while we all regain our national sanity.
The most we can hope for is Making America Great Again.
Principle and experience have me proudly and publically saying:
F**k it, Vote for Trump.
I hope you will join me in supporting Donald J. Trump's election as the 47th President of the United States of America.
If not, we can still be friends.
Feel free to comment, but please be respectful.