Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Sinking Self Esteemship


Today, while reading Cool Hunting, I saw something that made me stand up and shout "Amen! Halleluja!!" Well, I didn't actually stand up because that would have meant shedding my giant woobie scarf-blankie thing and exposing my skin to the bitter cold, but I was very excited. What, you ask, could make me so excited? A book by Laurie Rosenwald entitled "All the Wrong People Have Self Esteem." While the book seems to be a mix of meanings and media, the title is what gets me going. You see, I have noticed often, and lately with increased frequency, that there are tons of people in the world who operate under the delusion that they are smart, skilled, and talented beyond reality, and use this high self-image to propel themselves forth in the world of business. I'm talking about the idiot bosses who run companies into the ground, all the while thinking that they are above taking advice from anyone around them. These people think and act with an undeserved authority, and they rise through the ranks virtually unquestioned and uncontested.

If you work for one of these people, you find yourself asking how they are able to walk out the door without getting hit by a bus every morning, let alone make a career for themselves. Given their ineptitude, you are no longer shocked by billionaire CEOs who can't seem to manage their way out of their own socks, yet have been entrusted with the fate of a giant company (and the jobs of thousands). Our nation's recent economic downfall is the fault of such people, whose own unwarranted self esteem has helped them reach the top, oblivious to the fact that their personal ladder of success is constructed out of marshmallows.

The upside of this is that it has given me a new-found confidence in my own abilities. If these schmucks can do it, why can't I? And why can't you for that matter? Whether this undeserved self esteem comes from class entitlement, or the praise heaped on them by those around them, these people have taken over the world, and need to be stopped. We can usurp their power, one dumbass at a time. Who's with me?

P.S. - I've already requested Laurie's book from the library, and I can't wait to read her thoughts on the topic of her title. She may have had a different idea altogether, in which case, I would sound like a total nut job. But that ship, I fear, may have already sailed.

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