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Only in the world of American business can a 40 year-old billionaire with a history of threats, intimidation, and blatant disregard for the law, come out and sa

Only in the world of American business can a 40 year-old billionaire with a history of threats, intimidation, and blatant disregard for the law, come out and say "I need to grow up" and have people nod along approvingly. I used to think the idea that Americans see themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" was a grotesque caricature. But then I saw people watch a video where a wealthy guy, known for his history of exploiting the poor, scream "personal responsibility" at a bankrupted immigrant. And they overwhelmingly identify with Kalanick. It's really pathological at this point.

_jal 10y ago
Yep. The only sin in the U.S. is being poor. The rest you can buy your way out of.
gingerbread-man 10y ago
Put another way, only in the US do businesspeople have to publically apologise for not-being-nice. Towards the end of the video, Kalanick was brusque and even demeaning, but I don't think his position as CEO grants me the right to get high-and-mighty on my keyboard and demand he "grow up." Nor do I expect much insight into anyone's character can be gleaned from a 30-second argument in the backseat of an Uber. I'm not saying Kalanick is a good (or a bad) CEO. But his job is to build the company, not to serve as its' Mascot-in-Chief.
- wpietri 10y ago
  This was not a mere failure of niceness, as if he didn't say please and thank you. He was also unkind, arrogant, self-centered, thoughtless, ungrateful, and foolish. As well as failing to demonstrate compassion and moral responsibility. You're also wrong on what CEOs are supposed to do. Companies are made out of people. His primary job is as a leader of people. The way you build a company is mostly through getting a hundred thousand small interactions with people right. He visibly failed as this guy's boss, just as he's been privately failing to build a sane company culture. An important secondary job is being the public face of the company, the human representation of the brand. Even if you are a terrible human being, it's your job to get up there and simulate being the kind of person that people would like to associate with your brand.
geodel 10y ago
I agree. In other places billionaires' minions would go and throw some money at driver/law-enforcement/lawyers or simply threaten the victim and get these kind of issues simply go away.

_jal 10y ago

Yep. The only sin in the U.S. is being poor. The rest you can buy your way out of.

gingerbread-man 10y ago

Put another way, only in the US do businesspeople have to publically apologise for not-being-nice. Towards the end of the video, Kalanick was brusque and even demeaning, but I don't think his position as CEO grants me the right to get high-and-mighty on my keyboard and demand he "grow up." Nor do I expect much insight into anyone's character can be gleaned from a 30-second argument in the backseat of an Uber. I'm not saying Kalanick is a good (or a bad) CEO. But his job is to build the company, not to serve as its' Mascot-in-Chief.

wpietri 10y ago
This was not a mere failure of niceness, as if he didn't say please and thank you. He was also unkind, arrogant, self-centered, thoughtless, ungrateful, and foolish. As well as failing to demonstrate compassion and moral responsibility. You're also wrong on what CEOs are supposed to do. Companies are made out of people. His primary job is as a leader of people. The way you build a company is mostly through getting a hundred thousand small interactions with people right. He visibly failed as this guy's boss, just as he's been privately failing to build a sane company culture. An important secondary job is being the public face of the company, the human representation of the brand. Even if you are a terrible human being, it's your job to get up there and simulate being the kind of person that people would like to associate with your brand.

geodel 10y ago

I agree. In other places billionaires' minions would go and throw some money at driver/law-enforcement/lawyers or simply threaten the victim and get these kind of issues simply go away.