This idea was lifted from an e-mail exchange with Noni Mausa this morning. The following well seasoned joke reminds me of political communications among the people who write the copy for our leaders:
A carpet layer had just finished installing carpet for a lady. He stepped out for a smoke, only to realize he’d lost his cigarettes. He went back in and in the middle of the room, under the carpet, was a bump. “No sense pulling up the entire floor for one pack of smokes,” he said to himself. He got out his hammer and flattened the hump.
As he was cleaning up, the lady came in. “Here,” she said, handing him his pack of cigarettes. “I found them in the hallway.”
“Now,” she said, “If only I could find my parakeet.”
Part of Noni’s note:
What is worrisome is that we don’t always correct our steering as we should, jumping back and forth between data, predictions, steering, more data and comparisons to our predictions.
But the biggest problem isn’t poor execution of good-faith strategies. It is clever execution of bad-faith strategies.
“But the biggest problem isn’t poor execution of good-faith strategies. It is clever execution of bad-faith strategies.”
Yes that is it and I think it stems from incorporating business practices and models into governance. Specifically “the sell”. On substance behind the marketing pitch.
Which leads me to an image that explains all the approaches and results there of today: Elmer Fud running off the cliff. At least he had the sense to look down when he felt no air under his feet. We’re still running because we’re that far removed from reality.
When people ask for passion, for emotion, for a show of strength I think what they are asking is for someone in position of persuasion to signal we are aware of our unreality by looking down and the verbalization that come with the awakening. I want that moment of awareness expressed as when Elmer Fud looks down. UH OH!!!!!!!! Doh!!!!!!! Oh Sh#T! Holy F#@K!!!!!!!!
Clever execution is just a mind set that nothing is real.
What i take from that is the obvious that we jump to conclusions based on “obvious” connections: missing cigarettes, lump in carpet.
And the point — not obvious because it is not really the point of the story, only the point of the moralist, me — is that we have all learned to “ask the experts” especially the expert economists, whose only value system is “money,” about which they are often wrong anyway, but they have no space in their “theory” for human values. they would reduce the feelings an old lady might have for her parakeet to “replacement cost” and shop around for a used parakeet and call it even.
Well since no ‘balance sheet’ takes into account human values or the values currently expropriated from the commons it’s no wonder Corporate Slave State America, and that of other nations, lays waste to us and our environment. After all human suffering and the extinction of species is….
…free!
I don’t know if it’s just me or if everybody else encountering issues with your website. It appears as if some of the text in your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This could be a problem with my browser because I’ve had this happen before. Many thanks