Fiasco of the Year

In the vain effort to keep my students awake, I am always on the lookout for fresh material to integrate into my teaching. For instance, back in 2020 I was fortunate enough (if that is the right sentiment) to be teaching the work of Thomas Hobbes in my political philosophy course, just as the first Covid wave hit Europe, which offered a real-time example of state authority.?At the time, China was locking people up in their apartments to contain the virus’ spread, while European countries were pretending life could go on as normal: a remarkable juxtaposition of state power versus individual liberty. And we know how that panned out.??

Well, 2022 has been a banner year for providing the kind of high-quality fiascos that, while they may not bode well for the future, nonetheless provide good fodder for the classroom. But which has been the worst??

Now, if you were expecting Elon Musk to take first prize for going around firing whoever he could find at Twitter and randomly unplugging servers, all while tweeting like he’s applying for a shitposter position at 4-chan, prepare to be disappointed.? While Musk’s “leadership” at Twitter will most definitely become part of “how not to fuck things up” in future strategy classes, there is I think an even more vivid and obvious example both of exceptionally poor decision-making and of sullen refusal to acknowledge the obvious.

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