Levels of privilege

[Lainey]

Good article, Tradd. Thanks for posting.

+1
although I think Tradd posted it as an extreme example of too much empathy and not enough punishment/consequences ...

[Lainey]

That's funny. My observation after years of (mostly) corporate work was that the amount of honest effort put forth was inversely related to the amount of money raked in. At the top, you can do nothing but **** up and still get piles of money on the way out.

+1
Golden parachutes - it happened so often they had to come up with a term for it. Good example: google Angelo Mozilo, formerly of Countrywide which blew up so spectacularly in the Great Recession.

[JaneV2.0]

I was thinking of Carly Fiorino and Eddie Lambert, the Ayn Rand afficionado who recently drove Sears into the ground, but I know there have been many more.

[Tradd]

+1
although I think Tradd posted it as an extreme example of too much empathy and not enough punishment/consequences ...

Yes, Lainey has it correct.

[iris lilies]

Yes, Lainey has it correct.

ah, I think catherine knows that. People will have different take aways from information, so be it.

Me, I love this line for its ridiculousness: Not once did I consider our attackers to be “bad people.” I trust that they weren’t trying to hurt me. In fact, if they knew me, I bet they’d think I was okay. They wanted my stuff, not me.."

So many things wrong with this, but hey, I'm happy that the victim has a glass half full view. What exactly constitutes "bad people?" if they give you a bonk on the head? A hammer to a knee? Are only full on rapists bad people? Them and murderers of course. What about the f*cktards who broke into my house carrying a weapon to hit my tiny, sweet dog? What if she had actually barked at them and they plonked her, would they be "bad" then?

Really, I don't give one actual f8ck what the author considers "bad" because that label isn't relevant. I do consider the author and anyone who think like him/her to be a toady. I am annoyed that they live in my world.

[Weston]

And yes social skills will be part of it,

The older I get, the more I'm convinced that social skills are not just merely part of career success, but are in actuality the most crucial skill/gifts one could have in the workplace.

I know it is just anecdotal and may be subject to recency bias, but I was just at a family gathering of several dozen members of my family. Of all the people there, three of them stood out as having had spectacular career success. Two of those individuals barely made it through college by the skin of their teeth. Two of them have admitted that they do very little work ( direct quote from one of them..."I don't do any actual work. I just make decisions".)

The one thing that all three of them have in common is not brains, nor work ethic, nor quality of education. The one thing all three of them have is that they are all very charming people. All three of them also are relatively attractive.

[Lainey]

Emotional I.Q. - very important.

I actually feel sorry for the socially awkward - seems like there should be a "charm school" for lack of a better word for someone to give them pointers on how they can navigate the world better.

And I agree, also anecdotally, that the most successful business people I've seen were good looking (not necessarily movie star level but easy on the eyes) and engaging. I would add to that a high energy level - this seems almost mandatory these days with the 24/7 communication, the expected travel, etc. Old movies that show an old attorney or CEO with a big belly and suspenders and smoking cigars are that much more laughable now.

[jp1]

+1
although I think Tradd posted it as an extreme example of too much empathy and not enough punishment/consequences ...

While I would not likely be capable of writing a similar article after being mugged, and I think the guy may have gone a little over the top, I appreciate that he's at least acknowledging that extreme inequality is part of the problem. People with halfway decent jobs and prospects aren't likely to commit street crime. They become banksters where the take is much better and the likelihood of jail much less. People with shit prospects don't have much to lose so why wouldn't they be much more likely to go mug someone. It would seem that there are two ways to deal with the problems inequality causes. 1) figure out how to reduce the equality. 2) the people with 'more' better add a lot more guns/police/etc to the 'more' that they have. After all, stop and frisk is only a problem if you're part of the group getting stopped and frisked.

[Glo]

I'll pay extra if it's important to me. I will upgrade to first class if the price is reasonable. It's a question of comfort. I don't pay extra for early boarding; I never carry on a bag, so I don't have to worry about staching anything. As far as concert tickets, depends on who it is. I will pay if it's someone I'm crazy about.

[rodeosweetheart]

Pinky, I just flew to Orlando to give a presentation at Disneyworld, and noticed exactly what you were talking about, both with flying and with Disneyworld itself. Very off putting, and really don't wish to fly or go back to Disneyworld itself.

Pretty soon, my beautiful America is going to feel like one big gated community. Ugh.