Comments on: Quoted Without Comment http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/6223.html Some Chicago Boyz know each other from student days at the University of Chicago. Others are Chicago boys in spirit. The blog name is also intended as a good-humored gesture of admiration for distinguished Chicago boys including those pictured above. Fri, 25 May 2012 13:23:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: virgil xenophon http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/6223.html/comment-page-1#comment-268556 virgil xenophon Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:30:31 +0000 http://chicagoboyz.net/?p=6223#comment-268556 Obama seems the sort of "Cosmopolitian" creature that was featured in an article I read years ago which examined the contrasting lifepath trajectories of Ivy League educated "coastal" types with their similarly educated brethren from the mid-west. Those from the coasts, once educated at one of the Seven Sisters of the Ivy League, tended to head straight to Washington to work in government or to NYC to work in the corporate world. Those from the mid-west were just as likely to return home to become a housewife or run the family tire re-capping store(s), content to put down roots in their hometown ,marry, raise a family and generally remain detached from the corporate or political national power structure. For "coastal" types this is, as the article pointed out, "to think the unthinkable." I would posit that, given Obama's relatively cosmopolitian background, he would fit in quite well with the "Coastal" typology which the article I read claimed forms their entire persona, coalescing as it does around their educational status and the sense of superiority that accrues from having such an educational background. And emanating from that sense of superiority a sense of entitlement to go along with it. The sort of "Coastal" personality described in the article I read would seem to be totally congruent with the person in the story David Foster relates. Obama seems the sort of “Cosmopolitian” creature that was featured in an article I read years ago which examined the contrasting lifepath trajectories of Ivy League educated “coastal” types with their similarly educated brethren from the mid-west. Those from the coasts, once educated at one of the Seven Sisters of the Ivy League, tended to head straight to Washington to work in government or to NYC to work in the corporate world. Those from the mid-west were just as likely to return home to become a housewife or run the family tire re-capping store(s), content to put down roots in their hometown ,marry, raise a family and generally remain detached from the corporate or political national power structure. For “coastal” types this is, as the article pointed out, “to think the unthinkable.” I would posit that, given Obama’s relatively cosmopolitian background,
he would fit in quite well with the “Coastal” typology which
the article I read claimed forms their entire persona, coalescing as it does around their educational status and the sense of superiority that accrues from having such an educational background. And emanating from that sense of superiority a sense of entitlement to go along with it.

The sort of “Coastal” personality described in the article I read would seem to be totally congruent with the person in the story David Foster relates.

]]> By: david foster http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/6223.html/comment-page-1#comment-268505 david foster Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:08:11 +0000 http://chicagoboyz.net/?p=6223#comment-268505 <a href="http://www.analyzethis.net/blog/2005/07/09/barack-obama-embellishes-his-resume/" rel="nofollow">Here</a> are comments by people who claim to have worked with Obama when he was at a company called Business International. I was particularly struck by this comment: "I remember trying to explain the nuance of (interest rate swaps) to him in the cramped three Wang terminal space we called the bull pen. In contrast to his his liberal arts background, I had a degree in finance and Wall Street experience, so I knew what I was talking about. But rather than learn from a City College kid, the Ivy Leaguer just sort of rolled his eyes. Condescendingly. I’ll never forget it. God forbid he leave the impression that a mere editor like myself knew more about something than did Barack. He was like that." If this is true, it is pretty damning, and shows a man who is so into his own status that he refuses to learn from people who he perceives as lower-status. This kind of thing can permeate and cripple an organization, as Goleman suggests. Whether or not these specific stories about Obama are correct, narcissism and arrogance are certainly exemplified by <a href="http://photoncourier.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_photoncourier_archive.html#1304002947217498575#1304002947217498575" rel="nofollow">Joe Biden</a>. Here are comments by people who claim to have worked with Obama when he was at a company called Business International. I was particularly struck by this comment:

“I remember trying to explain the nuance of (interest rate swaps) to him in the cramped three Wang terminal space we called the bull pen. In contrast to his his liberal arts background, I had a degree in finance and Wall Street experience, so I knew what I was talking about.

But rather than learn from a City College kid, the Ivy Leaguer just sort of rolled his eyes. Condescendingly. I’ll never forget it. God forbid he leave the impression that a mere editor like myself knew more about something than did Barack.

He was like that.”

If this is true, it is pretty damning, and shows a man who is so into his own status that he refuses to learn from people who he perceives as lower-status. This kind of thing can permeate and cripple an organization, as Goleman suggests.

Whether or not these specific stories about Obama are correct, narcissism and arrogance are certainly exemplified by Joe Biden.

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