In the past years, Ol' Si has seen a marked increase of psychopaths in positions of power. They have little or no people skills. They have fits, tantrums, and probably recall fondly torturing ants in their youth. Exhibit behavior that would have gotten you fired, and possibly locked away two generations ago.
Of course, the hyper-trendy press LOVES them. Movies are made of their lives. Execs debate why that management 'style' worked. Shell shocked former employees try to hide their pain in the BiographyTV interviews.
These sickies do not think as most of us do. Part of it is either a medical condition or the effects of psychedelic drug use. They may be bipolar, have ADD, ADHD, sleep disorders, permanent PMS, maybe all of those afflictions... something. Rather than treat it, the relish it.
What is going on here? Well, today's popular fiction is that social skills get in the way. Yes, being a jerk makes you successful. Three angry ex-wives, a mistress who jumped off a bridge, and 5 kids that refuse to speak to you means you have made it. Goldman Sachs will now make you a Partner. VCs will be begging you to sit on their investment team. After all, it takes psychos to know psychos, and it appears that such people generate a hundred-to-one return on investments at IPO time. You have to wonder if college health centers are being bugged by institutional investors and head hunters, looking for those Computer Science students who stopped getting Ridelin prescriptions filled.
How can abusive people get away with it? I think the shock value of their actions has something to do with it. Starting with Miss Jones, our first grade teacher, we had the controlled, cooperative female personality rammed down our throats. Little League baseball is all smiles, win or lose. Can't emit gasses or burps in the dugout, like we did when I was a kid. Parents can only cheer, lest they be banished to the parking lot. In other words, public school reduced us to social mush. A version of 'Barney'. When someone smashes that norm, we are shocked. What to do? Some hide, some fight back, and some will follow the new leader. Lady Gaga is rich after all.
To be abusive and keep your job, you need to be right all of the time. Many people will lie in ambush, waiting to get you fired if you screw up. However, if you get a string of good decisions, you start becoming bullet proof. "See" the investors will say. "You have to think out of the box! Kill people if needed, as long as we get the IPO out in the upcoming window!" Next thing, a corner office awaits at a Semiconductor company.
Young people are noticing this. Even Dilbert was pitied in a recent cartoon strip. "It must be hard to be a Normal", he was told by a young co-worker with a list of every mental deficiency known to man. You are now a noun, a 'Normal'.
And, like every other micro-trend, 35 startups will jump on this concept immediately. Look for a pile of Indiegogo and Kickstarter funding campaigns for movies on 'How to get rich like Steve Jobs!'.
And, Ol' Si knows a market when he sees one. In my spare time, I am writing a book. "Scream! "The Driver to Success.". Next will be the seminar series, if I can locate Anthony Robbins' evil twin, "Yell and Throw Furniture on Your Way to the Top!" Companion workout sessions available in Blu-Ray soon.
For once, I will jump in with both feet on a risk. Immerse myself in a startup. Work insane hours. Abuse all around me. I can just see that Porsche in the driveway now!
Yes, I know this whole affair is a very bad trend for society. Speaks ill of our evolution. Sad day for humanity. But, I smell money. As a rich producer of Porno movies once said "Hey, I know we are on the road to Armageddon. I'm just trying to get my share!"
Ol' Si isn't worried about the consequences to our society or my soul. Well, at least until the plague of locust appear on the horizon.
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