Dolly and Donald
I was going to write about ADHD this week, but then Dolly died. So instead, let me tell you a tale of good and evil.
Dolly Parton, when described as a dumb blonde, replied: “I know I’m not dumb… and I also know I’m not blonde.” This is a woman who was so universally adored that when scientists cloned a sheep from a single cell in 1996, they named her Dolly. Even Winnie’s favourite toy is called Dolly!
And right now there’s a petition with over 100,000 signatures to rename Nashville International Airport the ‘Dolly Parton International Airport’ (which was originally started because Donald Trump was trying to name it after him).
Ah yes, the mango-stained game-show host loves getting stuff named after him. Towers. Golf courses. Geographical Gulfs. Peace prizes, or anything that stands still long enough gets a gold sign slapped on it.
So let us compare the CVs of these two rather contrary humans, shall we?
Donald: 34 felony convictions from 91 criminal charges. Four indictments. Two impeachments. Six bankruptcies, including a casino (which takes real talent, because the house always wins… unless Donald is in charge). Five draft deferments. Twenty-six accusations of assault or misconduct. A fake university and a fake charity, both shut down. Pleaded the Fifth over 400 times in a single deposition. Hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and judgements, and at least seven trips on Epstein’s private jet.
Dolly: wrote over 3,000 songs, including Jolene and I Will Always Love You. Kept full creative and business control of her work in an era when women simply weren’t allowed to. Her ‘Imagination Library’ has given away well over 100 million free books to children worldwide. She donated a million dollars to fund the Moderna Covid vaccine. And through Dollywood she created thousands of jobs and around two billion dollars a year for one of the poorest regions in America - the same hills she grew up dirt-poor in, one of twelve kids in a one-room shack.
A real David versus Goliath. Except this David was five-foot-nothing in heels and a wig, and she won without throwing a single stone.
Because whilst one of them spends his time demanding that no one is allowed to disagree with him, and the world has to put his name onto everything... the other spent her life being highly agreeable, and quietly putting her name behind things - books, vaccines, jobs, people… and now the world is queuing up to name things after her without being forced to. Oh, the irony.
Which is the same lesson I keep banging on about with AI - in that it augments human behaviour - it’s a mirror to the best and worst of humanity, and Dolly and Donald are the two faces staring back. Good and evil. The technology doesn’t choose which one we become, we do.
So this week, be more Dolly. Give more than you take. GAS about people. And maybe write a song or two.
PS: My favourite Dolly quote: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
PPS: My other half, Donna is very much like Dolly… she shares joy and smiles everywhere she goes, and doesn’t ask for anything in return, and I am so darn lucky to share in her life here on earth.
