After all, it’s a major part of his work experience. The man is 37 and wants to be President of the United States.
Buttigieg worked for McKinsey & Co from 2007 to 2010. He also worked for the defense consultant the Cohen Group.
Since he was young then, he can be hardly held responsible for everything these companies do. But then, does he really endorse all that they do?
Because McKinsey is a very problematic company for a Democratic presidential candidate to count as a “friend” or ally. They are associated with assisting authoritarian governments around the world, or with helping those who do. And then they coyly say they are “not political.”
As a, or perhaps as the, premier management consulting firm, McKinsey is a leader in that business sector. Management consultants are known for their role in corporate “reorganizations”: i.e., downsizing. That means people get fired, whatever their seniority or loyalty.
I know. I’ve worked in this world. Not as a consultant, but in marketing for one of McKinsey’s competitors. I know that a certain portion views itself as an adjunct to top management, and their shareholders, and have made a niche for themselves justifying ruthless cost cutting and sometimes pointless mergers & acquisitions. I remember a planning session where they referred to “shooting people.” Sort of like a TV show where the star pronounces the running line “you’re fired!.”
Yes, management consultants, some of them, might arguably help stimulate creativity in the workplace, train and empower people, or provide a needed sounding board to company insiders. Fine: now is the time for Buttigieg to make those distinctions and say where he stands on nothing less than business’ role in society.
As far as I can make out, Buttigieg has sounded some “capitalism with a human face” motifs in his writings, along with having some odd ideas about trade. Without entering the fray about capitalism versus socialism, I would ask him: why does capitalism need to have such a face put on it in the first place? Is that a form of compensating?
How does private enterprise get involved in, or affect, or lead to, public service, Mayor Buttigieg? Does the pursuit of the bottom line ever work at cross-purposes to populations whose interests are affected by the firms in question?
We stand at a juncture where a president and a ruling party are not just destroying the ethic of public service, but are destroying the public sector and the public sphere. (Of course, 45 and the GOP need “publicity” like they need oxygen, in no small irony.)
How does your corporate experience represent public service, Mr Mayor? And which “public” do you believe you serve?