CEOs struggle to process their new reality after the public glee at Brian Thompson’s killing

All I can think of is a TED talk I saw where the speaker had given some presentation to a bunch of billionaires and had some q&a, and one of them who had built a bunker for themselves asked him how they could prevent their security team from turning on them in the bunker.

The TED talk guy responded "Be kind to them?"

And the Billionaire said "But where does that end?"

I'll try to find it so I can link it.

EDIT: Found it!

Because CEOs are a symptom.

The problem is our investment economy that focuses only on the stock prices continually going up. It's literally an unsustainable system.

If a CEO puts their personal safety over the investors, the company gets a new CEO.

They're not the one really making the worst decisions, they're the ones who agreed to take a shitton of money to be the face of the company and take all the blame.

CEOs don't get paid for the work they do, they get paid to be the fall guy.

Still absolutely shit people who deserve zero sympathy, but they're not the real problem, just a symptom

The "what does this say about society" question bugs the shit out of me. It means that our society is sick and tired of being the only rich nation in the world where getting sick or injured will bankrupt you. If these people were truly concerned about the good of society, they'd quit sucking us dry for every dollar that they can and would advocate for a better system.

Well they did learn one thing though

They finally learned how it is to be a high schooler, having to live under constant fear of murder. I can't wait to watch C level execs having tondo active shooter drills where they have tonhude under bullet proof blankets.

Mind you, murder is bad, and this murder on this CEO was bad, no matter how you turn it. I don't want to live in a world where murdering eachother is the only conversation left.

Having said that, it is very gratifying to finally see these out of touch assholes having to suffer the same fear as all little kids in America

That's a bridge too far for them, especially with particularly oligarch friendly policies of the incoming US administration.

Elysium

They literally can't see the light for all their wealth because they're calvinists believing: the greater the wealth, the greater the morality.

Soooo out of touch it's hilarious.

Please, go ahead and continue to show how little understanding you have for the common man, by all means.

We are 100% not saying Boo-Urns.

The bigger issues that we care about are things like going bankrupt from getting sick or injured. Those issues are directly caused by their CEOs.

I think that depends very much on where you live. Here in Germany we don't usually go bankrupt from getting sick. I at least worry much more about the climate catastrophe or right wing propaganda on social media. Issues that in a funny coincidence are also caused directly by CEOs.

If he is mentally ill, the majority of the US might be as well and they are tired of the system that makes them ill.

What if the line going up wasn't money, but the value of human life? 🤔

Okay but what if we just sent everyone some stickers with our logo on it?

I mean EVERYBODY loves stickers. Then w we can keep making money, you can keep dying and you’ll have some great bling for your toddlers coffin!

Everybody wins!

Think of how few stickers are on the average toddler’s coffin?

But my capitalism!

But the cult of the line goes up says the line must go up, are you even paying attention to the line and whether it's going up?

You know why, we all know why. Modern corporate journalists are more narrative drivers than journalists. They attempt to control the talking pints and conversation, and steer clear of anything that would promote asking the right questions.

Because if they show all that shit, then they're going to be agreeing with everyone else....and won't be able to pull a "why did this happen" routine

One part of the response is that since the 80s, the media were financialized. One consequence is that the media quality dropped and medias reports go in the way of the finance.

Why would anybody hate CEOs?

(Btw this is just in the past month)

I would think that the title of CEO might not be appropriate to every organization either. I know a rather big org where the CEO is basically someone who begs for investors, and the CAO does what a CEO usually does. There are orgs where that's the CFO, or the COO. Regardless of the title, it's all executives we're angry about because of the incredible income disparities versus actual responsibilities.

The executives I've met are essentially hype men or thumbs up thumbs down types. All of them were finance types or management types. To me, if your only qualification is many years of managing with barely any experience in the actual product/service your org provides, then that's a problem.

Hospitals run by management types? Engineering services run by accountants? It's all middlemen extracting piece of the pie from the people actually doing the work.

As a society we need to purge the system of middlemen period. The internet made middlemen obsolete, yet they are still exploiting labor in ridiculous ways.

I don't hate somebody just because they're a CEO.

I hate all rich people though that aren't using their wealth to improve the lives of others as much as possible.

especially if you phrase it by mentioning that they have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize profit regardless of morality.

Also regardless of mortality.

It is a comedy routine, and they aren't dumb, but blind. They see most humans as worthless animals. They could not give a fuck what happens to you, because your existence is irrelevant to their lives.

The public response was generally not sympathetic.

The words they use are an attempt to weaken the impact of the hit. The public response wasn't sympathetic, it was generally celebratory.

The elite cannot fathom being anything other than better than those below them. Deserving. They "got theirs."

Maybe it was the significant amount of lead in the atmosphere for a long time that caused widespread brain damage, but it's so obvious how disconnected from reality they are. Thompson's death highlighted that reality applies to them too, and they can't handle it.

if you think your customers hate you?”

They were under the impression that the customers didn't hate them? How out of touch are they?

keeping employees engaged

Not the problem.

if you think your customers hate you?

They do not hate them. They hate you. The C level.

Hoy fuck the disconnect in those people.

"I keep taking more from them and they don't like it?!"

Hate is the cost of squeezing those extra dollars. Extra profit isn't free, they're lowering another game slider for it, and that slider is how much your customers support your actions. They're only still around as a customer because all the other options have been bought out or run out of business.

The only reason customers are engaged is because the service sucks, the product sucks, the support sucks, the tos sucks, the sneaky fees suck, the greed sucks, the CEOs suck.

PS: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniesarkis/2019/10/27/senior-executives-are-more-likely-to-be-psychopaths/

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/08/the-science-behind-why-so-many-successful-millionaires-are-psychopaths-and-why-it-doesnt-have-to-be-a-bad-thing.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2016/09/16/gene-marks-21-percent-of-ceos-are-psychopaths-only-21-percent/

It’s fortune magazine, so yeah they’re full-on delusional in their pandering to “business leaders.”

Most people don’t hate CEOs.

The public reaction to this event disagrees with this claim.

Mind virus.

Lgbt.

Left.

Right.

Wokeness.

Immigrants.

Distract

Depose.

Deengage.

Obligatory Silicon Valley scene

Alternative real life example that makes me sad at the state of the world so it’s easier to point to TV show

It’s always been this way.

I hate CEOs, landlords, royal families, and anybody else perpetuating the status quo.

That's actually been studied. Turns out that about 40 is the tipping point for most people, as in CEO earnings 40 times more than the lowest paid workers. Up to that point people think they boss earns it, above that resentment starts to grow.

They're at 700. Yeah, that's dangerous. People are very sensitive about relative earning for work. Fairness is just hard wired into all animals and it's dangerous to ignore this, although humans react a bit later and that gives a false sense if security for those at the top.

What infuriates me is that there are those that make 6 figures as being able to potentially make 7. And sure, some of them might.

But are they brain surgeons that have such a specialized life saving surgery that by the nature of economics pushes the value of their skill exceptionally high? Nope.

Hell, I make 6, and I'll admit, I have a lot more than a lot of people. I'm 2-3x the median of my area. I can't buy a house. I own a 7 year old RAV4. If I was better managing my money and not having to pay out my ass for my ex wife, sure, things would be better.

It's not at all difficult to find how just a little less income makes life much harder. It is VERY difficult to see how someone who has so much money can be remotely ok with people having it harder than them.

Those pulling in 7 figures without highly valuable skills should be dehumanized. Because they have abandoned what has helped humans survive at all. Each other.

Also, as if many CEO's and upper managements humanize their customers and not see them as numbers in a spreadsheet.

Good. Money can't buy happiness and if they try, we need to take their happiness. Billionaires already have everything, they don't need peace of mind.

Really? It feels worse than Russia.

It's different people. Those in US still own real things and do something with them to get such incomes.

Those in Russia steal.

In other words, in USA connections are means to help actual power and tools to actual power. In Russia it's the other way around, actual power is all dependent on connections, which ultimately all go to one ruling group.

It's nowhere as bad. But it will get as bad as Russia, of course, if Americans don't learn something.

Most people don’t hate CEOs. They don’t care about CEOs. They have bigger issues to care about [that the CEOs created for them to distract them].

In this current discussion, people are trying to open each others eyes about that silent part.

Also: Most people don’t hate CEOs. But we do think CEOs have no right to be making more than a thousand times what an honest working person should make, actually sacrificing lives for their profit. And when that kind of stealing and mass murder is sanctioned by the law, then what are the options?

The limit of 4 years is what's making me laugh.

The woke mind virus lmao

Did these human persons speak anyone outside their immediate circle in the last three decades?

After late 90s and early 00s it seems that this has become rare.

First "speaking outside your immediate circle" has moved into interwebs. Second the interwebs have changed to no longer inconvenience those who don't want to see contradicting worldviews.

Just saying. CEOs are, of course, more isolated than many people. But their delusions are not unique by any measure.

I love the last line. They do indeed, like how to pay for chemotherapy treatment after their claim got denied.

It's insulting toward, what I believe to be, a plurality of the population. Luigi was a gift of a wake-up call. They'd do well to listen. Though, only government could really remedy the situation, and that's not likely to happen. So we lurch forward toward instability. The powers at be seem more intent on transfixing the masses with fictions, distractions, and eventually: war.

"suprising obstacles" lol as soon as it gets hard these fuckers just fuck off to a new ceo position at a different company.

And the only thing hard about being ceo is making decisions that suck for your own employees like cutting back homeoffice or fire/rehire and not have a bad conscience. But since these fuckers dont have any moral or loyalality anyways it isnt hard for them at all.

People who read Forbes do.

I think large parts of humanity still desires enormous amount of money and are willing to spend their lives focusing on it.

It's because money gives what people actually want - safety, respect, admiration, power, freedom etc.

Lemmy tends to have skewed perception of such things. Truth is, most people want money. As much as possible in as short time as possible. There's a multitude of reasons, from wanting a luxurious life, to simply wanting to not have to worry about the money or to retire early, but pretty much everyone wants money. Look at how many folk join the lottery.

Hell, most of Lemmy wants student debt to be forgotten. That's gaining money, just in reverse order. Same with distributed wealth etc.

World spins around money, no matter how you look at it.

But sure as hell I wouldn't like to be in a place I hate to earn it. :/

I don’t want that. I want enough to live my life and nothing extravagant.

They’re calvinists believing: the greater the wealth, the greater the morality. Taking it to its extremes is the point as is the cruel structural violence.

Do you have what it takes which is also known as inherited wealth

Every time I get a promotion I've had more and more distance between me and doing the actual work I get paid a lot more but I hate it. I have very little job satisfaction because the time scale of the things I'm working on has gone from days to months. Most of the time I just feel like I'm getting nothing done and it's incredibly frustrating.

Actually a lot of "normal" people do want that.

And many even not very "normal" people may easily lose their mind thinking they have the opportunity to become powerful.

I want that.

"critical need to humanise leadership"

What about humanising your customer base? Humanising employees?

The biggest fear is that the hatred expressed in social media posts about Thompson—and glorification of 26-year-old shooting suspect Luigi Mangione—will lead to copycat attacks

People are in disbelief that they would be making this kid into a hero

Last time I checked, he was a full grown 26 year old man who made his own decisions, not a "kid."

I don’t think revolution is the answer to solving problems

It's easy to say that when you're not living out of a shelter while working full-time.

There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.

Selina Kyle

I know a school shooting up which wouldn't be a huge crime. Back then, that is. Now I can't be certain.

It's interesting to see that we may be flirting with a new era in which being kind has actual benefits.

My whole life I've watched kind and generous people be taken advantage of and punished by our societal systems. Trump is the best public example of how the antithesis gets you everywhere in this country.

Careful, that sounds suspiciously like socialism!

This has gotta be Elon Musk, right? Nobody else is using that stupid phrase, right? RIGHT?