Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker and author of Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush.  He has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought to Be--consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just plain folks.  Twice elected Texas agriculture commissioner, Hightower believes that the true political spectrum is not right to left but top to bottom.  He has become a leading national voice for the 80 percent of the public who no longer find themselves within shouting distance of the Washington and Wall Street powers at the top.

Read Hightower's guest commentary below on his own experience being a "boss."

Bossism: A Latent Jerk Gene? 

By Jim Hightower

Reading the Bad Boss entries that have poured into Working America during the past few weeks, my mind kept tuning back to a song I heard not long ago that had this refrain:  "Just another jerk taking pride in his work."

Sheesh--so many jerks!  Is it possible that there's a latent jerk gene that only kicks in when someone gains boss status over one or more bosses?  Scientists really should be looking into this.  I'm sure grant money would be available--maybe from Homeland Security, since raging bossism clearly is connected to some sort of primitive terrorist instinct.

Actually, I've been the boss of a sizeable operation myself, back when I was elected the Texas commissioner of agriculture.  For eight years, I oversaw some 600 employees working on everything from organic food production to egg inspections.  One day, Willie Nelson visited my office to finalize plans for one of his Farm Aid concerts.  We left together to go to a press conference, and as we entered the main hallway to take the elevator down, a large group of agency employees had crowded into the area and broke into applause when they saw us.

We smiled and waved, and then, as the elevator doors closed, I turned to Willie and said, "It's amazing.  They do that every time I leave the building."

A good boss, of course, would be applauded when entering the building, not departing, but us bosses are generally oblivious to such nuances.

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