The Peter Principle

[DemocratSinceBirth]

A person rises to the level of his or her incompetence. In the alternative a person is promoted until he or she can no longer do the job.


That begs the question. You don't build an empire like Trump has by being an idiot even if you have a head start.

What's up?

[MineralMan]

1. You can be a sociopath and do it, though.

If you don't care what happens to others, you can manipulate a wide range of people to your benefit. Look at Trump University, taking money from gullible people on false pretenses.

There are many sociopaths who are business successes. They use strategies similar to the ones Trump has used, like looting companies and then bankrupting them. Trump is a master of that conscience-free game.

[rock]

2. You play Bingo often

Do you?

[MineralMan]

6. Not that old yet.

No Bingo for me.

[rock]

9. I thought you did

Because you scored "Bingo" with that post!

[MineralMan]

10. LOL!

[NastyRiffraff]

13. Hillary made that exact point today

in her speech on the economy. She sliced and diced him, then eviscerated him on his so-called business ability. From that speech:

Clinton said Trump had been sued more than 35,000 times, including by small businesses, and that there were hundreds of liens filed against him.

The victims behind these lawsuits were "painters, waiters, plumbers — people who needed the money and didn’t get it — not because [Trump] couldn’t pay them but because he could stiff them," Clinton said. "Contractors, many of them small businesses, took heavy losses. But Donald Trump came up fine."

Trump’s history in Atlantic City, which, Clinton noted, Trump has referred to as "a very good cash cow for me for a long time."
That Trump has suggested the US could default on its debt. "The full faith and credit of the United States is not something we can just gamble away," Clinton said.

Trump’s record shows his inability to handle national crises, Clinton argued. "Is this who you want to lead us in an emergency? Someone thin-skinned? ... Who tweets insults at reporters?"

Clinton read a quote from Trump in which he said of his bankruptcies: "I figured it was the bank’s problem, not mine. What the hell did I care?" "Everything seems to be a game with him," Clinton said, "but it’s not for a lot of us."
http://www.vox.com/2016/6/21/11990976/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-economy

[Armstead]

3. He's extremely competent -- But he's also reckless and slightly nuts

Had he been content with building a real estate empire, he's probably have been a raging success.

But he's narcissistic, ego-maniacal and and determined to be the best at everything. So he hoisted himself up to the Peter Principle level.

[PJMcK]

4. There have been several analyses of Mr. Trump's financial "success"

It seems that for all of his many businesses and projects, Donald Trump hasn't really done very well. He inherited a sizable amount of money and if he had invested it with funds that track the S&P 500, he would have nearly the same amount of money that he claims. Here's one such analysis:

Donald Trump's self-described net worth was $200 million in 1982.
If he invested that money in the S&P 500, he'd be worth about $8.3 billion today.
Today he claims his net worth is $8.7 billion. So based on his own claims, he has barely outperformed the S&P since 1982.

More at the link: https://www.quora.com/Did-Donald-Trump-inherit-a-lot-of-money-and-then-increase-his-net-worth-at-an-unremarkable-rate

[TexasBushwhacker]

7. And half of the net worth he claims

is his brand. Forbes gives his brand a value of zero because its value is volatile, to say the least. My guess is that the value of his brand is probably much less than it was since he started making putting his foot in his mouth an Olympic event. Bookings at his hotels have plummeted. The PGA moved a tournament from Trump's Doral golf course to a course in Mexico (lol). The RNC has been abandoned by multiple BIG sponsors for the convention.

[PJMcK]

11. His real estate

Donald Trump's real estate evaluations are probably way off from reality, as well. For example, he claimed a golf course's worth at a high value for asset assessment but for tax purposes claimed the same golf course at 10% of the higher valuation.

Thanks for this line: "...since he started making putting his foot in his mouth an Olympic event." That's a keeper!

[TexasBushwhacker]

12. And who did he pay off to drop the golf course assessment

so low? There has to be a lot of corruption in his past and present.

[Haveadream]

5. Trump's willingness to exploit other people gives him a huge advantage

It more than compensates for his lack of book smarts.

Sociopaths are secretly proud of their ability to be unconstrained by conscience. They look at normal, empathetic people as dupes. Most go to great lengths to hide that but Trump flaunts it for all to see. By parading his contempt, he gives his followers permission to revel in their darkest impulses. His message is regressive in so many social, economic and even maturational ways. No surprise his campaign slogan appeals to those who want to make America great again" He is the antithesis of a progressive.

I suspect that rather than his own incompetence, his success will have more to do with much to do with the level of incompetence of our electorate and their need to leverage power at the expense of other Americans.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. He graduated from the Wharton School so he definitely has "book smarts".