A Proverbial Problem

There is a mid-eastern proverb that I am particularly fond of. I have seen it phrased a number of different ways, but this one will do;

"He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep—wake him;

He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is simple—teach him;

He who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a fool—shun him;"

One other proverb that I like but I will add my own touch to is this one;

"He who cannot do, teaches."

To that I add:

He who can neither do nor teach, becomes a politician.

Other than people in the entertainment industry, there is no group of people so generally ego driven and full of themselves as our elected officials. There is no better example of this than the way Obamacare has been handled.

Our President, Barack Obama, has been blessed with an education far better than all but the elite of the populace. From the finest private school in Hawaii, to Occidental College, to Columbia University, to Harvard Law School. One would be hard put to find a finer education. Although he was elected by the American people, we have never been privileged to see his school records. But he graduated and passed the bar so he must have learned a great deal. The problem is that he doesn't know that he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Therefore, his ego tells him that he knows everything. Neither he nor anyone else has seen fit to correct his ego.

When it came to Obamacare, he told his underlings what he wished. He, then, left for the golf course or to go campaigning assuming that his underlings were competent to complete the task. In the private sector a CEO would appoint a project manager and, for a project of this magnitude, a corporate attorney to ramrod the project. They would meet with the CEO at least weekly. Wasn't done.

One of my favorite websites is Amazon. Between general purchasing and my Kindle, I visit the site multiple times every week. Even the first time is a pleasure. You pull up the website and you can immediately search for anything you wish. Their breadth and depth is amazing. When you wish to check out, it takes five minutes or less. Thereafter they have your data in a secure space and many times you can make a purchase with a single click. They handle millions of hits a day and the site is never down.

Now if I were President and I needed a major league website I would get on the phone to Jeff Bezos or someone like him that has actually run a major website. With the President calling, the call would, most assuredly, be taken. I would ask if he and a couple of his technical people would be willing to consult on the Obamacare website. In other words experienced and competent people from the commercial world where things must work or there are ramifications. I doubt anyone would refuse this request.

Apparently, from what has been reported, all the different groups involved in Obamacare went off into their own little corners and did what they felt was best with little or no consultation or coordination. When someone suggested a systems integrator, the White House people said no. They said they would handle that situation. No experience, no knowledge, just a strong desire for power and control. Once again, in private industry that would never happen. To make all those little parts and pieces work together seamlessly requires brains, skill, and the power to make it happen. It is the results that count, not the politics. In private industry, heads would roll.

So our President came back into the loop when things started falling apart. It seems that all he had to offer toward correction was temper tantrums and more speeches blaming straw men and Republicans for what they created with their own hands. It seems it is panic time in our nations capitol. So I say unto you, never put your faith in a man that doesn't know that he doesn't know what he doesn't know. He will lead you down the road to hell every time and tell you he is leading you to heaven.