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no_hypocrisy

(55,684 posts)
Mon Jun 22, 2026, 07:51 AM 8 hrs ago

Succinctly, Donald Trump is the embodiment and the epitome of The Peter Principle.

You keep getting promoted until you attain your ultimate status of incompetence.

I read the book years ago, and last night, it hit me. The premise has been proved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle

https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/peter-principle-theory-decline

8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Succinctly, Donald Trump is the embodiment and the epitome of The Peter Principle. (Original Post) no_hypocrisy 8 hrs ago OP
Except... 2naSalit 8 hrs ago #1
Point taken. no_hypocrisy 8 hrs ago #2
Perhaps it's... 2naSalit 8 hrs ago #3
Trump had safety nets and buffers hiding his incompetence, his depravity.. agingdem 8 hrs ago #4
He was born at the height of his incompetency randr 8 hrs ago #5
As I have recently dubbed... Hugin 8 hrs ago #6
It's quite true... PCIntern 7 hrs ago #7
I thought I was the only one who knew of this theory/phenomenon! mucholderthandirt 3 hrs ago #8

2naSalit

(104,699 posts)
3. Perhaps it's...
Mon Jun 22, 2026, 08:14 AM
8 hrs ago

More like an inverted Peter principle where he continuously fails upward and expresses a higher level of incompetence with each promotion.

agingdem

(9,046 posts)
4. Trump had safety nets and buffers hiding his incompetence, his depravity..
Mon Jun 22, 2026, 08:15 AM
8 hrs ago

Every bankruptcy was followed by an infusion of cash…his father Fred before he succumbed to Alzheimer’s, foreign money, dirty money, dark money, or a friend (Mark Burnett/The Apprentice) handing him a lifeline

PCIntern

(28,785 posts)
7. It's quite true...
Mon Jun 22, 2026, 08:40 AM
7 hrs ago

“Celebrity” status here in America does not correlate with intellect, humanity, or “Godliness”. It does correlate with looks, cosmetics, moderate depravity, inherited money, last name recognition, and notoriety. (It’s important to know the dictionary definition of this last category. It’s surprising to hear some well-respected individuals get it wrong).

mucholderthandirt

(1,801 posts)
8. I thought I was the only one who knew of this theory/phenomenon!
Mon Jun 22, 2026, 12:47 PM
3 hrs ago

Read the book back in the early 80s and it explained so much about how stupid people get put in charge of things they have no clue how to do. It drove me crazy for years, trying to explain it to people, because if you watch media, or read, only the smart people advance, but that's just not how it works. The idiots, the ass kissers, the people useful to higher management, that's who gets the jobs.

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