Bill Ayers, the former president of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) — once considered a violent socialist/communist influenced organization — and founder of the Weather Underground, has all but eliminated America’s principled education. Through his lifelong commitment to evolving student curriculum focused on students in elementary school (K-12) at the University of Chicago as a tenured PhD (now retired), reaching national prominence in re-designing the school’s curriculum, his influence has been far-reaching. His training as a social activist was colored by Sal Alinsky, beginning in the late 1960s.

Bill Ayers’ impact is a root cause of why we are experiencing current political and social issues. And it was Nikita Khrushchev who ranted about “burying the United States from within.”
 

A root cause of the ability to feel offense and to be offended begins within the negative tendencies of the heart — the ability to define the situations in a narrow definition of appropriateness.

Again, one of the eight negative tendencies of the heart is the ability to define a narrow range of appropriateness, as well as hatred, shame, fear, grief, condemnation, pride of pedigree, racial prejudice. The last one is a narrow definition of appropriateness.

But to be offended, you have to have a standard that you have set that is outside 180-degree vision. Whatever you’re offended by is what your definition has defined it to be. And, consequently, you have shame that manifests out of that.

Out of the development of 180-degree vision comes the ability to ask important “what-if” questions, especially as they relate to what if something happens over time — such as what if you have a perfect wind storm in Southern California that only happens every 20 or 30 years. What-if as it relates to the fire and damage it can do to houses and lives. Which is one of the reasons why objectivity and 180-degree vision is so critical to develop in leadership. In this case, it’s the public sector that probably should have looked a little bit closer at the what-if, and to respond accordingly with the long-term policies and procedures as they relate to the practical and not-so practical activities.

From out of our “internal double standard” (as coined by the author) come our conflicts of interest between individuals, and between individuals and groups. This leads to, or can lead to, a very negative environment as we develop rules and regulations for each other. But also, what results in the competitive nature of us that we experience from birth.

180-degree vision leads to elimination of this internal double standard, and the conflict of interest and competitiveness that manifest the negative environment that we experience from a societal standpoint. 

What does he have? He has 180-degree vision. I say that because when we open up our mouth and we articulate our perspective correctly, it shows. When we are thinking in non-emotional states of awareness, it is clear. And that is what Elon Musk has demonstrated.

He said recently, “Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how American Functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress, but rules and regulations promulgated by unelected bureaucrats…Most government decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees, but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections…This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers…On November 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it.

“President Trump has asked Vivek and [me] to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long. That’s why we’re doing things differently.

“We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees,  we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”

Are you still trying to define Trump’s win? It’s actually pretty simple. He was considerate of his followers, who ultimately became his voters. His focus remained on the current concerns expressed by ordinary voters. Whether you consider his motives to be pure or not, he was successful in convincing the majority of U.S. voters that he was sincere, 

The atmosphere of politics is intensely emotional. Trump plugged into the basic fears and concerns of his supporters and responded directly to them.

Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals is a 1971 book by American community activist and writer Saul D. Alinsky. It describes how to successfully run a movement for change. It was the last book written by Alinsky, and it was published shortly before his death in 1972.

Why should you read it, more than 50 years later? It also helped launch a mode of thinking that is best defined as “the end justifies the means.”

And what did that do? The scales of justice were forever tipped. (Remember the lady wearing the blindfold and holding the scales? Many believe that you still can’t fully trust her.) 

Read Alinsky’s book. Millions of others have, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Regardless of how you define yourself politically, it will be empowering to know how we got to where we are now.

The only way to change the intensity of your feelings about the 2024 presidential election is by changing your frame of reference about what you see, and see in yourself.

How do you do that successfully, beyond a sheer act of willpower? The only way, I believe, is through awareness — or the changing of awareness — the highest level of the management hierarchy. (see: Where Business Ethics Begin, pg. 109)

If you are extremely emotional about the political environment right now, you probably haven’t experienced what I call “180 Degree Vision” in my book. Leadership: Where Business Ethics Begin describes this concept on page 162.

Once obtained, 180 Degree Vision results in an individual having true objectivity when observing life events. One should be INVOLVED but not OF this physical journey.

The election of 2024 was stunning, no matter which side of the aisle you preferred. Nobody expected what happened. Nobody.

Theories abound, and the reasons that the current president-elect will soon be taking the oath of office will be analyzed long after he returns to the White House. 

So what does it all mean? For starters, you need to read my book. Leadership: Where Business Ethics Begin.

I wrote it 20 years ago, but until November 5, 2024 it was just rhetoric.