General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: He doesnt like this sh*t: Trump reportedly hates his job and his staff after less than a month [View all]Caliman73
(11,736 posts)There are some parallels between business administration and public administration and the study of public administration being the younger of the two, takes a good deal of the research from business administration analyzes it, and uses the parts that fit within the parameters of the subject (mostly leadership, quality control, and some organizational dynamics information). The two fields however, are fundamentally different because the aims of administering a business are fundamentally different from the aims of administering a government agency or a public trust agency.
For all of those people who want the country run like a business, the answer is to look back at the track records of presidents who came from the private business sector, those would be Herbert Hoover, Andrew Johnson, George W Bush, and Warren Harding. Jimmy Carter was a successful farmer and Harry Truman ran his own business too, but he was not a good businessman and went into politics to earn a living. Carter I would say, is a bit of an outlier. His presidency was not a great success, but it wasn't a failure either. I would say that what sets Carter a bit apart from some of the other good for business/bad for government crowd was that Carter had experience in the military and as a religious person (in the actual mold of Christian service) he did public service and was not a CEO president.
The United States is not a business. The business of the United States is not business. Business is necessary for the economy but the economy is supposed to be about the well being of the people of the country not solely for the purpose of making some people incredibly rich.
Government is complex because people have differing and sometimes opposing needs. The people come together and appoint representatives to try to make policy that will meet those needs and balance the costs and benefits to all.
A CEO of a for profit business does not do any of the things mentioned above. They are about making money. Not that every for profit CEO is a monster or greedy, unethical person; but the goal of businesses is to make money and however that happens, whether through cutting employees, cutting corners on production, competing with other businesses to put them out of business, etc... They use every tool at their disposal, and they play at the boundaries of the law and ethics to stay ahead of the competition.
Trump is the culmination of the idea of the CEO president and we are seeing the effects, not even a month into his term. He wants to be in charge like a CEO but he is not CEO he is a public servant and there are rules, and laws, and a whole philosophy about governing in a constitutional democratic form of government that he does not understand or accept.