Someone suggested it before--MJS, I believe--but using the term to denote something respect-worthy. What I think of as a manager is another animal--I'll let Micheal Albert (whom, I suspect, is hated by most of the vocal participants on this forum along with Orwell and many others--I've developed a bit of a paranoic complex about this) explain via a quote I've adapted:
"For example, if we in this room were a workers council in a factory, say, and we were connected to all other workplaces and to consumers by a market, we would have to dump our costs on others, not cleaning up after ourselves, choosing cheap but dirty methods over more expensive but clean methods. We would have to gain revenues by inducing excessive consumption. We would have to cut production costs at our own expense of working too long and too intensely and under cheap but harsh conditions. It we didn't do all this, we'd go out of business.
"Do you think you would be good at oppressing yourself in order to cut costs? I don't think I would be good at that. To aggressively make cost-cutting decisions would require someone with both a managerial surplus-seeking mindset, but who was also freed from suffering the pains that his or her managerial choices would impose. "We would thus hire folks who business schools instilled with appropriately callous and calculating minds. We would call them managers, engineers, lawyers, and so on. We would give them air conditioned offices and comfortable surroundings. We would tell them, okay, take away our air conditioning. Reduce the quality of our environments. Cut our costs. Keep us competitive."*
His role re: the economy is to be kept out of the cold while imposing harsh austerity measures on the US public, hopefully getting the same or similar results NAFTA got in Mexico here in the Heartland. (Whether he suceeds, of course, depends on whether we let him.)
*The essay origin may be located here: http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/17472
_________________________________________________________________ Windows Live Messenger just got better .Video display pics, contact updates & more. http://www.download.live.com/messenger