Stupid or unmotivated?

My basic thesis is that there are too many fucking morons out there in corporate America. My friend Kate tends to disagree, believing that most people are smart but just not very motivated – as in they have the capability to be successful but not the catalyst to convert their god given potential into action.

In other words, all people walking towards a cliff can see that they are about to die but some do not perceive warning signs and guard rails as life threatening until they are falling to their death. To which extent they are willing to stop at the warning sign, at the guard rail, at the edge of the cliff or holding on to the edge is simply a matter of outside factors.

My explanation is far simpler: You’re walking off the cliff to your death you fucking idiot.

As usual, I am writing this with a healthy dose of profanity to avoid it being taken seriously by those of you that will inevitably self-identify here and get offended. The reality is that anything short of 100% effort is a 100% guarantee that things will not work out the way you hope they will. Or your boss made you read this because he thinks you are an idiot but didn’t want to offend you by telling you that to your face (in which case you’re both idiots and he should fire your ass)

Examples of Stupidity

“I’m smart, I don’t need to attend school to tell me that.” Idiot: If you were smart, you’d know that attendance is required. When you grow up you’ll be the smartest guy at McDonalds.

“I’m smart, I don’t need to go to college.” Idiot: High paying jobs use college degree as an HR filter, you won’t even be considered for a phone interview for a professional role without one.

“I’m smart, I don’t need to show up for work on time.” Idiot: You may be the most valuable person in the company, but if you aren’t there for work then you aren’t there the next payroll cycle.

“I’m smart, I don’t need to put in extra effort.” Idiot: If you aren’t making the connection between effort and exceeding your potential then you’re automatically subjecting yourself to being perpetually stuck where you are.

I could take this rant for another 1,000 pages but the reality is that a lot of people think they are just geniuses being crushed and manipulated by the unfair world: not true. If there were so many geniuses out there, there wouldn’t be that many minimum wage employees – they would be replaced with robots.

Now I don’t want to get on a rant here…

So we have a rigged system that empowers stupid people to think they are smart, broke people to live like they are rich and cheerleaders for everything else in between them and folks that know what’s going on.

In case you’re wondering which side of this equation you’re at go ahead and ask yourself whose fault it is that you’re in the fucked up situation you find yourself in. If you are not in prison and cannot think of a single person whom you fault for your life not being everything you hope it could be – congratulations, you’re probably not an idiot. Everyone else, grab a big f’n mirror and take a good hard look at the problem. If you don’t see your own reflection it’s probably not a mirror but a picture frame with some stock photography in it you dumbass.

Good day.