I had to respond to the “BrassPills blog.” It has put out some really bad advice. I understand what he is trying to say. As a practical matter his advice won’t work. Here is the link:
There is a time and a place to be an asshole. That time is not “always… It’s also not “never,” because there are people in the world that are going to push you to your limits and if you don’t set them straight, you’re going to have a really bad time.
John Hawkins BrassPills blog
I guess I should establish a context for my objection. First, I believe there are two classifications for an asshole.
There is the natural born asshole. That’s the guy wearing the “Kick Me” sign. Bad shit happens to these people and they are never quite sure why. Take a stroll through jails, prisons and homeless shelters, natural born assholes are over represented.
The second type of asshole is the “self-made.” These guys worked hard to achieve their status. There is a learning curve. Unlike the natural born assholes, a self-made asshole is the product of long study and application.
You will find self-made assholes in jails and prisons. However, they also occupy command positions in the military, industry and politics.
Here’s the thing, John Hopkins would have the reader believe that being as asshole is something one can turn on and off. I agree that one can pick and choose when to be an asshole. There is more to it than that.
J.R.R. Tolkien understood the distinction when he wrote The Lord of The Rings. Anybody could wear the “Ring of Power” but only one person, Sauron, could wield it to its fullest potential.
I’ll give you an example. I worked on Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn (Arlington) Virginia. At lunch we could walk to any number of restaurants.
In order to do so my lunch companions and I would have to run the gauntlet of panhandlers, Scientologists, and Greenpeace advocates. None of them ever accosted me. All of them went after one of my lunch mates, every time.
I tried to teach the guy how to repel solicitors. He even tried a few pointers. It didn’t work. The “force” wasn’t with him.
I’m a self-made asshole. I’m pretty good at it. It has taken years of hard work to reach this level of proficiency. But no matter how long I work and how hard I train the next step will remain out of reach.
It’s like hitting a baseball. You can spend a lot of time in the batting cage and order custom made bats. But if you want to hit like Ted Williams, you have got to be Ted Williams.
Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox 
Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams as military pilot,
