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I don't think "effective man of action" is very accurate. His most effective skills are publicity and marketing, but now that he's reached the presidency I'm no

I don't think "effective man of action" is very accurate. His most effective skills are publicity and marketing, but now that he's reached the presidency I'm not sure how much more those skills can help him. He started with a lot of money and a family business and has done well, but the organization is not that big and not very remarkable if you ignore the marketing. I realize "he is the president" is a pretty good counterargument to "he's not an effective man of action", but hopefully you understand what I'm saying. I think his record is somewhere in between "bumbling around" and "man of action", probably a little closer to bumbling if you look at all his failures.

eternalban 10y ago
Yes, he susbtantially built up his daddy's money and business, and upscaled it by taking it across East River to Manhattan. I would also think it fair to add "opportunist" to the list of his effective skills. I also think it fair to point out that plenty of rich kids end up skating through life, doing zip, and ultimately blowing the family fortune. As to what constitutes effective "action" for a developer, sure he didn't lay bricks, but he made the deals, got the (opportunistic) tax breaks, and managed to fix up properties that were sitting stagnant. The Commodore Hotel, for example. And this same media that is ragging on him used to nauseate people like me who don't worship the shiny metal with its pimping of Mr. Trump. And failures in business are par per course. If failure in a business venture makes a person a bumbler, then what to make of our current business hero's statement that "failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough"? (That was Elon Musk, btw.)
- burkaman 10y ago
  Well, I don't think Elon Musk would be a good president either. But I didn't mean to say failing makes him a bumbler, I meant his specific failures do. The details of his failures, not just their existence.
fnovd 10y ago
>His most effective skills are publicity and marketing, but now that he's reached the presidency I'm not sure how much more those skills can help him. Did you see his tweet against the GOP's gutting of the Ethics Office? He still has the ear of millions of Americans and will continue to have that ear for the next 4 years. To think that he isn't going to be able to use that to his advantage is naïve. This is someone who has literally been shaping US foreign policy over Twitter. The "he's at his peak and can't do much more from here" line of thought has been brought up since the Republican primaries and it is as wrong now as it was then.
- burkaman 10y ago
  You mean his tweet where he said it was a good idea, just maybe not the most pressing issue? I did. Anyway, I didn't mean to say he won't do anything. As president, it would be difficult to not shape US foreign policy. But while he obviously has a history of taking action, he has a very mixed record of taking successful action, which I think is part of being effective. And he does have the ear of half the country, but in the past it has seemed like he's really only good at marketing himself, not so much his products and businesses. So of course he can use his followers to his advantage, but I don't see a lot of evidence that he will use that advantage well. Being able to push something through Congress doesn't mean he'll be able to make it work and make people buy into it.

eternalban 10y ago

Yes, he susbtantially built up his daddy's money and business, and upscaled it by taking it across East River to Manhattan. I would also think it fair to add "opportunist" to the list of his effective skills. I also think it fair to point out that plenty of rich kids end up skating through life, doing zip, and ultimately blowing the family fortune. As to what constitutes effective "action" for a developer, sure he didn't lay bricks, but he made the deals, got the (opportunistic) tax breaks, and managed to fix up properties that were sitting stagnant. The Commodore Hotel, for example. And this same media that is ragging on him used to nauseate people like me who don't worship the shiny metal with its pimping of Mr. Trump. And failures in business are par per course. If failure in a business venture makes a person a bumbler, then what to make of our current business hero's statement that "failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough"? (That was Elon Musk, btw.)

burkaman 10y ago
Well, I don't think Elon Musk would be a good president either. But I didn't mean to say failing makes him a bumbler, I meant his specific failures do. The details of his failures, not just their existence.

fnovd 10y ago

>His most effective skills are publicity and marketing, but now that he's reached the presidency I'm not sure how much more those skills can help him. Did you see his tweet against the GOP's gutting of the Ethics Office? He still has the ear of millions of Americans and will continue to have that ear for the next 4 years. To think that he isn't going to be able to use that to his advantage is naïve. This is someone who has literally been shaping US foreign policy over Twitter. The "he's at his peak and can't do much more from here" line of thought has been brought up since the Republican primaries and it is as wrong now as it was then.

burkaman 10y ago
You mean his tweet where he said it was a good idea, just maybe not the most pressing issue? I did. Anyway, I didn't mean to say he won't do anything. As president, it would be difficult to not shape US foreign policy. But while he obviously has a history of taking action, he has a very mixed record of taking successful action, which I think is part of being effective. And he does have the ear of half the country, but in the past it has seemed like he's really only good at marketing himself, not so much his products and businesses. So of course he can use his followers to his advantage, but I don't see a lot of evidence that he will use that advantage well. Being able to push something through Congress doesn't mean he'll be able to make it work and make people buy into it.