Race To The Bottom
Why do we still have contests?
This is not a rhetorical question at all, but one that should be addressed in this modern era of enlightenment, diversity and fairness. As far as we can tell, from the very beginning of man’s existence, the ability to survive in the wild has been the ultimate arbiter of a society’s success as a people. In any given society, there will always be those individuals who have skillsets superior to those of others, conferring upon them some superior position in that society or over other societies.
These superior skillsets were necessary in the competition for land, for food for resources and for social progress. That’s how societies improve and evolve. Of course, with the maturation of societies, the basic skillsets of hunting, gathering, cultivation or of waging warfare became less important as societies developed rules of civilization. Not everyone needed to have all the requisite skillsets to survive as those tasks were delegated to those most able or willing to perform them.
But in earlier times, if the tribe needed some meat for the winter period, it would make sense to send out the best hunter, rather than send out the best basket weaver. If this were not the case, the tribe would surely die out according to the rules of Darwinism.
Man’s naturally competitive nature logically progressed to anointing certain individuals or groups the mantle of best at whatever their skillsets were: running, shooting, planning, etc etc. In our modern times, the most coveted skillset seems to be arguing picayune points of law. Societies today are moving towards the exact opposite of celebrating excellence…in fact, the goal is to encourage mediocrity. In reality, the modern objective is to restrain excellence and to handicap society to its weakest links.
This is not hyperbole. Think of the entire industry created around diversity and fairness. As we know, universities at the highest levels are restricting qualified applicants in favor of those less qualified but who are part of an identified ‘disadvantaged’ segment. Employment policies are geared towards ensuring that some targets of diversity are met. We have military enlistment standards bent towards allowing heretofore unsuitable candidates entrance to training. What never seems to be identified is: what does success look like? What is the measurable level at which we can conclude that everything is fair? How do we know when we’ve achieved optimal ‘diversity and fairness’?
Of course we know the answer to that and the answer is, never. As long as the industry of diversity exists and gets paid, there will be inequities to be addressed…forever. By coincidence, this is tied to the question of, when are there enough lawyers? The answer is the same. There’s always someone being wronged who is desperately in need of paying legal fees.
Odd then, that we still hold contests of any kind. Why do we have the Olympic games wherein nations parade out their best physical specimens for basic contests of running and jumping. Surely, societies have evolved beyond that. Why are there any professional sports activities? Most of the participants are naturally endowed with certain levels of physical skills….why should the less endowed not be allowed participation? Why do we never see a 5’-5” accountant in the NBA? Why have pie baking contests? Why have spelling bees or barbecue cook offs? All of these activities could be replaced by flipping coins to determine winners. Why create environments of exclusion for those with less endowed skillsets?
Why do people yearn for the best homes, the best cars and even the best food? Why are there foam fingers displaying ‘number one’ while there are none displaying, ‘middle of the pack’?
Like so much of the idiocy which has consumed modern society, we are being fed the notion that the appearance of fairness and diversity supersedes the natural inclination of people to succeed on their own merits. We are told that we can only run as fast as the slowest in the group. In no species in nature is this dynamic true.
It’s possible that the nutters who propagate world overpopulation are correct; that there are too many useless people in the world. This push to dull the intelligence and capabilities of a society will definitely result in a weakened people. When the inept and incompetent are at the controls of a society, that society is in trouble. The problem is, there are societies that don’t subscribe to a self-inflicted weakened culture, that continue to elevate their best and brightest….and that’s where Darwin steps in.
… but, but what about FEELINGS!