Showing posts with label useful idiot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label useful idiot. Show all posts

Saturday, April 30, 2022

My Life As a Useful Idiot

 

nadiathemis.com
I can summarize my working life as nothing more than being a useful idiot. Being retired means I am no longer useful, which just leaves being an idiot... so you are forewarned about anything I say or do. 

If you are not on top of the pile, you are likely someone's useful idiot. Along the way, you rationalize the changes you have made in your values... just to get ahead. 

At one point in my life, I was informed my clothing was THE reason I got a raise at the lower end of the spectrum. After a year of buying fashionable clothing and looking stellar all the time... I got a raise at the upper end of the spectrum. The dollar difference did not make up for the pricier clothing.

But as Shakespeare said, "The apparel oft proclaims the man," except Shakespeare was a playwright and he was writing the dialogue of Polonius. Simply put... books are generally judged by their cover. Polonius also stated, "To thine own self be true." Take care of yourself and your affairs above all else", was the intended meaning. 

Most people take the above quite literally and dress for success, while climbing the ladder at the expense of others. Office politics takes control over individual values. Your version of right v wrong, gets distorted on the way up the ladder.

While I got off the ladder by retiring, I do see how some people might get angry when they are thrown off the ladder. They would rationalize this occurrence by shifting blame to those remaining on the ladder. The truth is in their own failure to adjust to the politics of the ladder... or being a valued useful idiot. 

It is likely that none of this makes sense, but I would suggest some soul searching about how you own values have changed over the years... and why.

Good Luck!!

This Week in Petroleum Summary May 8th, 2024 per EIA.GOV

This week's  full report . Gasoline fell -2.3¢ for the week, but remains +10.3¢ from year ago level. Consumption did edge up this past r...