Let me start with a story:
About a year ago, I was at a party with local elected officials and members of various commissions and boards. I’m having a good chat with Commissioner NiceGuy when he looks over his shoulder, turns back to me, leans in and whispers
“I heard something awful about you. I can’t believe it’s true.”
He looks back over his shoulder and continues, “I was thinking since we’ve gotten to be friends over the years, could  I ask you about it?”
I’m rapidly scrolling thru the folders of my mind trying to find something that could be just-that-embarrassing.
Commissioner NiceGuy motions for us to move to the edge of the room, kind of behind the plants, away from everyone else.
“I feel real awkward about this, but I couldn’t believe it when Hon. LocalElected told me this. Is this really okay with you?”
Still puzzled, I let him continue.
“Tonight, Hon. LocalElected told me you’re a “Democrat“. That isn’t true, is it?”
“Yea, I am. Â And what did you hear that was embarrassing about me?”
 We talked about my “elephant in the room” .
Commissioner NiceGuy told me he was surprised to find me a Dem because I’m smart, I don’t want to spend all of the money, and I sometimes feel it’s appropriate to tell people “no.”
What I took away from this is a couple of things:
*Â We need to get conversant in money, finance and economics the same way our compatriots across the aisle are. Â
* We need to learn to set the agenda for what is talked about. To me, it seems that many times in this county we are responding to the agenda set by our worthy compatriots across the aisle. Â
I will be blogging about finance and economic matters. I’ll be doing research and analysis along with some basic education so we all can give our compatriots across the aisle a good workout. If everyone in the class is smart, than everyone is better for it, right? Â
Some of you may know me for my video production work, but prior to that, I worked in the mortgage business and engineering. I have both a bachelors (with minor in political science) and masters degree in engineering.  I also have an MBA in corporate finance (minor in organizational behavior) from USC.
If I can help people ask good questions that help to move us towards better government, then my job is done!
If you're an MBA, you've already lost me.
MBA's have been the worst single thing that's happpened to this country, failing upwards over and over again, with GWB as the perfect example of the failed Harvard MBA.
Every company or organization that I've ever worked with who has listened to the advise of MBA's has sacrificed experience and competence for illusory short-term gains.
And a USC MBA?
This is your anonymous credential, with your idea that we have to be more like Republicans?
Who let you post on this blog?
Gus, if you want to be a jackass, do so on your own blog. For the record, I'm the one who let Reggie blog and I am pleased to do so..
If you're an MBA, you've already lost me. And A USC MBA, please.
We've watched the classic Harvard MBA in the White House, and most of us have worked in or with companies where MBA's have traded competence and experience for bullshit, short-term profits, and outsourcing.
MBA's have destroyed our country, and this is your credential.
Spare me.
Dismissing someone because they're an MBA is no less bigoted than dismissing someone because they're Latino or female or overweight.
So let me see if I got this right; Youre going to be anew blogger using a nom de plume?
Thanks, Chris,
I'll refrain from commenting here in the future
Gus, I do not go on your blog slamming you or your bloggers. I expect that you be mature enough to do the same here. If you can't do that, it is probably best if you refrain from commenting at all.
Paul,
Reggie is a real name not a nom de plume. We have a blogger named Gila, and one named Reggie.
Gus — your notion that MBAs have somehow destroyed this coutry is moronic on a number of levels. It wasn't MBAs that did it but a political ideaology based on winning elections and not governing. The former MBA in Chief got his degrees via "Gentlemen's C's" in those Ivy League schools because of who his dad was.
But to slam MBAs for being MBAs frankly makes me wonder if you're still proud of that 8th grade diploma.
And Paul…just because your comments don't go up instantly doesn't mean they are being deleted. But keep that up, and we can arrange to accomodate your requests to delete your comments.
Chris,
I think what Gus is trying to say is that he disagrees that the dems have to act mnore like Repoublicans in order to win here in oc. Kind of like how you got folded into the janet Nguyen camp by Phil Becerra and Marc Sussman. That didnt work out so great did it? Additionally the use of fancy titles such as MBA from USC is not that effective without a history of success behind it. Lending even more suspicion to the anonymous name of Reggie.
The anonymous pen name of Reggie is insufficent in identification and gove sthe illusion of an anonymous blogger using a nom de plume. I dont recall an activist named Reggie in our ranks. So how would I know who Reggies was as much as I would know the name Gila as being Gila Jones?
Paul,
Please do yourself and everyone else a favor and learn to type and spell.
Also please try to stay on topic. It makes it difficult to approve your comments when you ramble about people and things unrelated to the post at hand
I think OC Progressive was being a little combatitive, but he's free to do as he wants.
OC Progressive is right about MBAs though.
Business schools themselves are retooling MBA programs on a massive scale.
When asked if his MBA helped him in the business world, my partner who has an MBA from the University of Illinois, said, "Not that much."
From Fortune Magazine:
When Jack Welch gave a guest lecture at MIT's Sloan School of Management in 2005, someone in the crowd asked, "What should we be learning in business school?" Welch's reply: "Just concentrate on networking. Everything else you need to know, you can learn on the job." Sloan's dean, Richard Schmalensee, was stunned because "Jack was essentially saying a graduate business degree was a waste of time."
The whole article is here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_ar…
Here's another article on the failure of MBAs: http://blogs.theage.com.au/business/executivestyl…
And another: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/03/24/bsc…
And another: http://financecareers.about.com/b/2008/09/29/reth…
Not in my experience Joe. Did Jack Welch give any advice on making marriage last?
I'm glad your experience has been better. But the fact that the business schools themselves are retooling, changing their curriculums and questioning themselves indicates that there are indeed major problems at business schools.
Happily, that means future MBAs may be more meaningful.
The best MBA programs retool constantly Joe. You guys should know that. But back to the original point of Gus's criticism. He went after one of our bloggers for having an advanced degree and for hanging with Republicans. A pretty close-minded approach for a progressive, wouldn't you say?
"Moronic"?
"Proud of that 8th Grade Diploma"?
That's the way to elevate the discussion with personal insults, Dan!
And you misspelled ideology right before Chris insulted someone for their spelling. As someone who has always had a knack for spelling, I sure don't fault those who don't, but I have a lot of trouble with people on blogs who insult others for spelling or typing. Seems as silly as calling people moronic or accusing them of insulting them with that 8th grade diploma slam.
If anyone who reads this blog can give any personal experience of an MBA adding value to an organization, I'd love to hear about it. My lifetime of experience with MBA's is not positive at all, and my friends have had similar experiences, but I'm never afraid to be educated.
I said that I would abstain from commenting on this blog, and I will in the future, unless you decide that my abstention gives you open season for personal insults.
Hey, all insults and silliness aside, Reggie is probably a great person, and you guys have done a great job.
Reggie's initial post just happened to be timed when my best friend was being screwed out of his pension by the MBA's in his corporation 18 months short of 25 years, and that resonated with my own personal experiences.
At Ocprogressive.com, we're going for the wonky style of blogging.
Come on by.
We won't call you morons.
Gus
I didn't call you a moron, I called your view of MBAs moronic; its an important distinction between the two that you didn't pick up. And if you want to promote your wonky style of blogging foryour new site over here, buy an ad. Otherwise, frankly, its blog-whoring which is worthy of the Pedrozabots at OJ.
Apologies for the typographical error. Ideology. Is that better? Did an extra "a" slip in? I hit send a little too quickly, but one typographical error is light compared with the post Chris referred to.
I don't have an MBA but do have 25 years of business experience at a variety of large and small companies. I don't share your opiniion of MBAs and in spite of Joe's mountain o' links to the contrary, to land one of those big VP level gigs at a worthwhile corporation, an MBA is always preferred. My interractions with those MBA types has always been positive. Sue me.
Gus, comment here, don't comment here. I don't care. But you have no right to question who is allowed to blog here are not.
Has theliberaloc changed it's longstanding policy requiring those in the blogpen to be readily identifiable? If so, why?
No we haven’t. When Reggie signed up as a user she did not include her last name. That should be corrected soon.
I think this is the issue for me. Do we want to start thinking of Government as a business? I think Republicans have made that mistake, they want to run Government (Which they hate anyway and would drown in a bathtub if they hand a chance, that's the line of thinking of Republicans in the OC) as if it was a business and it's not. Progressives can put forth their own ideas on Governing which can include being fiscally responsible and not have it be labeled a Republican idea, Clinton proved that in the 90's when he left office with a budget surplus.
So I don't know if the argument should be about the value of an MBA but whether business mentality belongs in Government? Progressives need to stop apologizing for Government's shortcomings but beat that drum that we don't want Government to solve everything. But it has a place, an important place, and we value it over profitability. Some things just should not be profit driven.
Government does need to be run like a business, a non-profit business. That's one of the reasons Clinton was able to pull off budget supluses( that, the productivity of American workers and the creativity and ingenuity of for-profit businesses).
who is Reggie? Is there a new anonymous blogger on Lib OC? I thought that your bloggers were not anonymous.
Adrian,
Look at the posted by name. Reggie's full name is included.
Some of the most intelligent and democratic people I know have MBA's, I would not go so far as to generalize them into being the destroyers of our economic foundation. I seem to remember Bill Clinton as well as plenty of Democratic politicians supporting "free trade" which includes outsourcing, tax evasion, and off shoring. Perhaps degrees in Poly Sci are equally to blame?
Looking forward to your posts Reggie!
On another note… The current crises is that of finance and asset devaluation. It might have been propelled by bad business practices but they are not to blame. lol Blaming people with MBA's is ridiculous.
Frankly, and not that anyone cares, I'm bored with this whole MBA discussion. It is 1- if one stretches one's imagination, tangential to the point of the post and 2- beneath the intellect of most, if not all, of those who have commented. All of you, at least the ones I know personally, are better than this. There. Now I've done my daily dose of annoying people. I'm going to go back to being quiet. Have a nice day.
Reggie, don't let these trolls bother you.
I for one look forward to reading your posts.
Welcome Reggie. Thanks for sharing a little bit about yourself and where you intend to focus. I am looking forward to your posts. God forbid we become conversant in economics, finance and money and try to control the agenda. You got quite a welcome in the comments:
a self-described progressive who insults you and one of your degrees and then has the chutzpah to whine about people who return fire.
a person who seems unusually concerned about not knowing your exact identity(even though you have included more about your background than most bloggers on a number of sites).
people off topic trying to promote their blog or tear down self perceived enemies from past battles.
relief bloggers from the bullpen stepping up to defend you.
and last, but not least, someone like Mr. Spaulding who adds some comic relief by putting it all in context.
We miss you here Bladerunner; come back anytime
Bladerunner is correct. Govt. needs to learn to run as a very careful 501c3. If the D's in Sac, understood that we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now. Glad to see that some econ 101-102 will be a part of the liberal OC agenda. Education First…sorry, I forgot that's no longer a city motto around here is it. 😉 I am glad to see that anyone of us is better educated, it makes for better voters.
Glad to see you on board Reggie and I'm not even a liberal.