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.
Boris, you may be right, but bad government policies are the real problem. See here:
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.
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.