President Obama Report Card

"I think I will be an evil person" is not something that many people seriously take as a life goal. It would be too difficult to be evil all the time. In addition, you would be totally alone, with no one to follow you or respect you.

Most people see themselves as good people. But sometimes actions and ideas can be bad or even evil. Even the best of us has a bad day, and the worst of us a good one.

The key to leading is to separate people from bad ideas and bad deeds. There are two problems with this.

1. Dunbar's Number. Robin Dunbar, a British anthropologist, postulated that the human neocortex is large enough to only have a close social understanding of about 150 people. Beyond that, the people we meet are placed into groups and not seen as much as individuals but as representatives of groups. It is very easy to classify groups as evil, since you do not know them, nor do you see them as people, good with some bad ideas and bad deeds.

2. Who you know intimately does not map onto the population of the people you lead. If your core group of social acquaintances is primarily from a minority, you will not see the majority as good with flawed ideas or flawed deeds, but as evil people. A similar problem arises when the leader is from the majority, but in that case, the leader is still in touch with the will of the majority (which need not stand opposed to minority rights and freedoms).

President Obama

It would appear that President Obama did not have enough contact with majority members of the US population to enable an open minded approach. For example, he characterises people working in finance as "Wall Street Fat Cats" and "Fat Cat Bankers", has attacked the chief of BP. He jumped into the fray between a college professor and a police officer, assuming racism where it was not present. He assumes evil (or sometimes stupidity) of those who do not agree with him. This tendency to consider those who find fault with your ideas or deeds as evil or stupid is a serious flaw in a leader. If everyone took this approach there would be no learning or growth, no search for common ground and no compromise. It takes courage to stand up against evil deeds and evil ideas, and even more courage to stand up for the right of good people to challenge your ideas and deeds.

So, a leader leads by ideas and deeds. One would hope that both the ideas and deeds of the leader, if enacted by all good people, would lead to a better world. Lets see how Mr. Obama is doing:

• Smokes cigarettes. While a benefit to tobacco growers, the overall impact of smoking is negative. Indeed, smoking, like all preventable risk factors for disease, is best avoided by good people.
• Many vacations. The President earns $569,000 per year which includes $100,000 for travel and $19,000 for entertainment. If everyone who had a good income flaunted it by taking numerous vacations at a time when the nation is suffering from high unemployment, would that be a good thing?
• Borrowing against future generation's income. This is the equivalent of selling our children into slavery, as the children of the future will have to pay the debt we incur today. This is an evil idea.
• Failing to understand how tax policies impact employment. It is said that we are in the middle of a jobless recovery. This was predicted by others, but rejected or ignored by Mr. Obama last year. Now, Mr. Obama is coming close to calling corporations and their executives evil because they are not hiring the workers that Mr. Obama would like to see removed from the unemployment lines. One fears that the next idea will be to force private enterprises to hire people or face governmental penalties. This would certainly be an evil deed.
• Failing to understand the concepts of negotiation. (See prior post).
• Blaming others for his failures. Whether the classic "its all George W. Bush's fault" or any variation of that, this ad hominem attack indicates the failure to "man up" to his own overselling or underproducing. Either his deeds have been inadequate or his ideas have been bad. Even if his ideas and deeds are bringing us to the best conclusion, his failure to set an accurate time schedule is no one's fault but his own.
• His tendency to see the majority as evil and the minority as good colors his entire perspective of leadership. This not only labels many good people as evil, it fails to separate ideas and deeds from people. This painting of people with a large brush does not build unity, but instead fosters division. Indeed, I heard a supporter of Obama state that it is the responsibility of the majority to be sensitive to the needs and wants of the minority, but not vice versa. This implies that just by being a member of a majority, you are somehow evil and less deserving of respect. This failure to separate the person from the idea or deed is a failing of courage and peace, and is divisive.

These are a few of the problems with Mr. Obama's approach to leadership. Unlike his vision, I believe there are few truly bad people, but certainly many bad ideas and bad deeds, many done with the best of intentions. For example, an economy should be sustainable and one that relies on government redistribution of wealth, heavy taxation on present and future generations, manipulation of the money supply, and government take-over of the private sector is not sustainable and certainly cannot grow with the population. Focusing on the deeds and ideas, testing and excluding ones that don't work, is the key to great leadership, not demonizing those who would oppose you. As of now, Mr. Obama does not show the characteristics of a great leader.