Posted on 11/29/2013 4:57:18 AM PST by canuck_conservative
Economic equality will never be possible because some people are too stupid to get ahead in the modern world, said Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, in a speech that is igniting a wave of criticism.
Nick Clegg, Britain’s deputy prime minister, accused Mr. Johnson of “unpleasant elitism.”
In the speech honouring the work of former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Mr. Johnson said natural differences between humans will always mean some will succeed and others fail.
“I am afraid that violent economic centrifuge is operating on human beings who are already very far from equal in raw ability, if not spiritual worth,” he told the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank in London.
“Whatever you may think of the value of IQ tests, it is surely relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85, while about 2% have an IQ above 130. The harder you shake the pack, the easier it will be for some cornflakes to get to the top.
“And for one reason or another — boardroom greed or, as I am assured, the natural and god-given talent of boardroom inhabitants — the income gap between the top cornflakes and the bottom cornflakes is getting wider than ever. I stress: I don’t believe that economic equality is possible; indeed, some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses that is, like greed, a valuable spur to economic activity.”....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
(Pretty lively discussion going on in the Post's comment section, too.)
Saw this yesterday and still maintain being lazy and stupid has worked out pretty well for the “lyin’ king” so far. Twice.
He played right in the hands of the leftists. You can be the smartest person in the world, but could be as lazy as could be and still not come ahead. The point is there are many factors that dictate people’s success, and it’s therefore terrible to try to legislate outcomes, and the best you could do is to provide a level playing field.
It's the only to assure that more, not less, people will develop their talents.
It's sad that the originally well-intentioned equal rights laws led to less equality of opportunity.
Well of course, but that only happened because -
(a) the people who elected (and re-elected) Obama are lazy and stupid themselves, and now in the majority (unfortunately), and
(b) Obama is in a protective affirmative-action coccoon that shields him from any consequences of his idiotic actions (unlike what, say, a white guy would have to deal with).
If Obama had been subject to the same criticism and job-feedback that a white guy would be, Obama wouldn’t have lasted even one term.
Isn’t Boris a socialist?
Boris, you may be right, but bad government policies are the real problem. See here:
If we can ever get back to rewarding good behavior, hard work and winners we’re far better off.
Pretty obvious there’s folk’s in this world that want to get ahead, there’s folks in this world that are content on just getting by and then there’s democrats.
IQ does not equal common sense. I’ve worked with some of the most educated people in the world - who were void of a lick of common sense. Most of our politicians fall into this category. I call them educated fools.
“and it’s therefore terrible to try to legislate outcomes, and the best you could do is to provide a level playing field.”
Agreed. Government’s most important role in that regard is to prevent ‘cheating’, at all levels. A level playing field doesn’t mean that all will have the same shot at winning, but to prevent those who are unencumbered by ethics from screwing others and cheating their way to success. It’s just the opposite now. We live in a society in which ‘getting over’ on someone is looked upon as an achievement.
The movie “Idiocracy” becomes more and more prescient all the time...
My experience has been that even stupid people can do very nicely for themselves, so long as there’s sufficient motivation.
I think drive is more important than brains. Many smart people do not get ahead because they are, for whatever reasons, not driven to succeed. Some very smart people have very real psychological issues.
I, personally, have lost respect for Boris, and I used to enjoy his essays years ago. But his embarrassing behavior during the Olympics convinced me he wasn’t too bright himself.
Some people are too stupid to get ahead in politics because they’re unable to understand the importance of keeping their mouths shut on sensitive issues.
Also, some politicians, like Boris Johnson, are too arrogant to acknowledge that they achieved their current success because their parents were particularly wealthy and influential, not because they were necessarily smarter than their peers.
Yes, I agree. Intelligent without Common Sense is terrible.
Yup. The truth hurts doesn’t it?
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