Listening as usual to the auto dealer training films at night. They always emphasize the crucial importance of the TEST DRIVE. Persuasion and advertising might bring the prospect into the office, but only the TEST DRIVE can sell him the car. Duane Jones made the same point for soap and food products. SAMPLE the product first. If the customer likes the SAMPLE, she’s sold.
One of my boring constant themes is government as a business. Government must have the same two-way obligation to its customers as a car dealer. Each citizen should pay for each of his services, and tax should depend on the government’s performance in making commerce and life better.
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Well, if government should be a business, how about the TEST DRIVE and SAMPLE?
Leaders are the same as cars or soap. You can’t really tell how a leader will perform until you’ve done the TEST DRIVE. Advertising and specifications don’t tell the story. Ruling a city or a state or a nation is a unique skill requiring different talents than owning a company or serving in Congress.
As fucking usual the British system does it right.
A prime minister can be appointed easily. The first few months are the TEST DRIVE. If his previous experience wasn’t right for this unique job, the drive will tell the story quickly. Liz Truss showed how it works. Her talents in parliament looked promising, but her performance as PM wasn’t fully fit for purpose. No shame, no crime, just a TEST DRIVE. She was pulled back into a regular parliament seat, and Sunak was SAMPLED next. He held up longer but still didn’t satisfy the prospects.
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Our totally fucked system has no audition or TEST DRIVE. The president product may have a big engine and nice seats, but you simply can’t tell how he will perform.
Trump failed the TEST DRIVE immediately. His specifications and ads were all fake. By March of 2017 it was already clear that he was breaking all of his ads. In the British system he could have been easily and painlessly replaced at that point.
Polistra's Mill 