Donald Trump is correct when says that the two party system is rigged. It is rigged, and it has been for many years, which is why — in my opinion — Hillary Clinton will be the next leader of the “free” world. The system is corrupt because it’s all about money and how best to keep the cash flowing into the hands of the oligarchy. I would venture to say that Hillary’s deal to become president was cut eight years ago when Obama was given the job. Of course, things can change, and another candidate could become the POTUS, as long as the chosen person is deemed capable of being a better moneymaker for those in charge. As far as my cynical self can tell, being elected POTUS is much like being a CEO elected to run a large corporation.
A standard large corporation is made up of three groups: directors, officers and shareholders, all headed by an elected CEO, with shareholders having anywhere from 1 percent of holdings and up. In publicly traded companies, the shareholders get to elect the company officers, whereas a privately owned company gets to make its own decision in regard to how its board of directors is chosen. The board of directors then chooses a chief executive officer — or president — who is then responsible for managing the overall operation of the company and ensuring that the company remains profitable for the directors and shareholders alike. Quite often, the CEO is also a board member and, in some cases is the chairman of the board.
Drawing a comparison between America’s political system and the operation of a large corporation might seem like a stretch, but not if you think of the country’s citizens as being shareholders with the officers being the elected officials and the board of directors as the big money in charge of running the business and electing its CEO who — while making the decisions running the corporation — still answers to the board of directors.
So is the electoral process of the corporation rigged? Not necessarily, as corporations are not founded upon democratic principles such as those supposedly guiding the United States of America. Has the American electoral process always been rigged? I would assume it depends upon how far back one thinks we have to go to “Make America Great Again” and how one interprets “We the people.”
In any case, regardless of whoever becomes the next president of the United States of America, I feel the person assuming that esteemed position will have to answer to the (somewhat shadowy) board of directors to ensure that Wall Street, big business and the armed forces stay viable and well funded. In regard to repairing a broken political system or restoring greatness to the country, that may be harder to do than assumed. To accomplish this gargantuan feat, the elected president will need to be an accomplished diagnostician and have well-honed skills in the art of troubleshooting.
After all, just decrying the failure of a system is the easy part; being able to troubleshoot the problem and implement a fix is where the difficulty arises. If something is not working as it should, just saying that it is broken is merely stating the obvious. We can be angry, disappointed or frustrated about the failure of said system and we can appoint blame as to whom and what is responsible for the failure. Yet in the long run, if we want the system to be up and running again, it is someone’s responsibility (if not ours) to diagnose the problem and troubleshoot it to find a solution.
The Real Troubleshooting
Diagnosing and troubleshooting are essential skills in the production world, and for audio engineers. It’s something we do on a daily basis. For example, consider a basic situation as in setting up a mix. On the outset, it may not appear to be diagnosis and troubleshooting. However, in our search for audio clarity and cohesiveness, we are constantly identifying problems and fixing them.
In the event that a vocal is getting buried in a mix, we need to quickly ascertain the problem and find the remedy without damaging the integrity of the total mix. It might be that the problem isn’t with the vocal at all, but that something else is too loud or that another instrument is in the same frequency range. Either way, it is up to us to determine the problem and fix it by turning down the other instrument or notching out the offending frequency, thereby opening up the space for the vocal. Occasionally, the fix is something as simple as turning up the vocal, but to find the right balance, we need to establish the place from where the gain needs to be adjusted. Is it from the trim, the fader, the EQ or the compressor? In some cases, the threshold of the compressor across the vocal can be backed down a bit to let the vocal breathe and open up.
While none of this is overly complicated to the seasoned engineer, the diagnoses and troubleshooting of the problem still needs to be made quickly and concisely so that a solution is found before everyone in the venue starts running over to alert the deaf engineer that the vocal is not loud enough.
The Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosing a problem is costly and ineffective. Incisive diagnostic and troubleshooting skills play a part in saving time and money, which — in the long run — we are usually short on. Regarding these skills, let’s say we have a situation where an engineer flies a full concert rig and then turns on the system. Said engineer then fires up the console, opens up the amplifiers driving the speakers and plugs a microphone into the stage box that goes into the split snake sending the signal to front of house and monitors. Turning on the microphone channel the engineer gives a quick “Check one two.”
To the dismay of the engineer, there is no sound emanating from the system, and in a quick rush to judgment, the engineer — having used all his analytical prowess — declares that all the speakers are blown and must be replaced. Though farfetched, this solution may well be the right answer to the problem at hand, but it also may be that, with a little more patience and insight a simpler and less costly explanation could be found and implemented.
It might be a comparative stretch, but with so much at stake and so little time, I would venture to say that well developed critical thinking and troubleshooting skills are a prerequisite for engineers, CEOs and politicians alike.
