October 6, 2021 - 8:00am
There’s good evidence that “Lookism” — i.e. discrimination on the basis of physical attractiveness — is a real thing (and not just in matters of the heart). As Tyler Cowen and David Brooks have both noted, the effects — for instance on lifetime earnings — appear to be non-trivial.
But might there be other forms of prejudice we’ve been overlooking? Cowen quotes from an unnamed correspondent:
It’s an interesting idea (ironically) — but whether it’s true or not depends on one’s definition of ‘boring’. If it’s in the sense of ‘not entertaining’ then we certainly do discriminate against boring things and people. Or rather we just ignore them in favour of distraction and sensation.
However, if one means boring in the sense of ‘typical’, then the opposite is true — we actively favour the norm. For a start there’s social media, a ruthless enforcer of conformity. Boring is also where the money is. In an era of mass production and mass markets it pays to cater to the people who are most like the greatest number of other people. And so a great deal of effort goes into identifying these individuals, finding out what they want and giving it to them.
It’s not just the boring consumer who’s sought after, but the boring worker too. The same digital revolution that allowed marketing experts to find out so much about us, has also allowed management experts to centralise decision-making power within large organisations. What is therefore required from the great bulk of employees is the willingness and ability to comply with centralised management systems. Local initiative is only valued as a filler of gaps.
But what about the role of tech in facilitating niche products and producers? Well, yes, in some respects it does exactly that. For example, just compare the handful of media outlets that used to provide news and opinion to the countless sources available today.
Still, I wonder if innovation doesn’t depend on a collision between the mainstream and the niche, the normal and the eccentric, the boring and the interesting.
In catering for both sides of the human condition, but doing so separately, is the modern world killing progress?
Peter Franklin is Associate Editor of UnHerd. He was previously a policy advisor and speechwriter on environmental and social issues.
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SubscribeGetting these people to relinquish then powers they have grabbed for themselves over the last year will be one hell of a job. They are psychopaths, pure and simple, across all the parties.
I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t always like this. The nature of politicians has altered – very much for the worse – over the last 25 years or so.
Good luck trying to make government give their powers back. There will always be a new threat, a new variant, terrorism, etc
“Is Covid just a conspiracy by politicians to grab more power? One of the problems with that theory is motive. ”
Motive is easy, there is a conspiracy by the ‘Global Elites’ to take over fully. As they (the Donor Class) fund most election campaigns (in USA totally) they own both parties. From rising as a youth to the House, Parliament, or Senate you must bend with the sources of money, selling bit of your soul at each step.
At the top is a hazy, almost invisible, collective who let it be known which way things should go, and so on down. Soros we know, but most are not known.
All government and industry works on Debt, this is economics 101. From Henry the VII, and every other government, this has been. Central banks make money and give it to the financiers who them loan it out, and loan it back to the Central Bank. In USA the Treasury Bond Market is all, for complex reasons, but debt is the main mechanism of gov and industry.
Going back into the shadowy times till now there have been families who control the debt, the Rothschilds, say, and a couple hundred others, and they run the world by influencing the money at all levels.
Now it is time to destroy the middle class as they have some ethics, education, money, and want a prosperous nation with stability. They have had the power in the West from the Glorious Revolution, now it is time they were broken as democracy will allow it by – what is happening.
MPs are probably very content to take their salaries and do nothing. Starmer has given up on Opposition and the Tories are just Johnson’s lap dogs so it is difficult to see what difference it would make having the MPs in the HofC
Note to the casual reader who suspects I’m wearing a tin foil hat , you can buy a book written by Klaus Schwab of the WEF on Amazon its called “Covid 19 The Great Reset” !
I was 50:50 about whether Johnson, Hancock etc were followers of the WEF Great Reset or just influenced by some followers. For example, Bill Gates whispering about vaccine solutions which just happen to fit in very nicely with WEF’s health reset plans! What I struggled to determine was why would the government continue to pursue the masks, distancing, semi strangled hospitality etc given where we now are. They could open up and still pursue a WEF Great Reset plan. Then it became obvious : the moment they admit to “normality” then parliament must resume. They like the current situation and it has nothing to do with any world plans.
It seems to me that blaming the government is too easy. If you don’t like something you might as well blame those in charge.
Opinion polls during the lockdown have shown that about 70% of the population agree with lockdown. UnHerd contributors don’t agree – it’s all a matter of ‘individual freedoms. Blame the government.
Many streets in towns and cities are no-go areas. Blame the government. Put cameras everywhere as a deterrent, which isn’t very effective. Blame the government.
Joblessness increases, give out more social security money. Become a nation of ‘scroungers’. New industry becomes unworkable because of environmentalists. Blame the government.
BAME / LGBT+ issues infect the whole world. Governments struggle because we haven’t met things like this before. Blame the government.
The only countries which don’t seem to be affected by these modern issues are China and Russia. Ugh! Their evil governments!
Ok, so now we understand. We want governments to be very strong, to resist the rise of things we don’t like but to keep out of the way with things we like. Don’t give money to the plebs – let them starve. Keep out immigrants and force our youngsters to do the dirty jobs. Did I hear Grammar Schools? How about National Service?
Give me young people any time. History just can’t be as important as the future.
I’m not really sure what your point is. Many of the problems you outline above can only be blamed on the policies of successive governments. There is nothing that we can do about these problems, and if we tried to do something about them we would be locked up.
The Russian and Chinese governments are indeed abhorrent but don’t think that Brussels, for instance, doesn’t see them as a model to emulate. Moreover, the Chinese and Russian governments are broadly competent, which cannot be said of many western governments.
My point is clear. The future is the most important thing. Negatives are useless. History is not always relevant; key figures in the past ruled because they were Dukes and Earls, not because they were clever.
We had/have a lockdown. Get over it and make positive plans going forward. We are stuck with LGBT+ issues because young people think they are important. They don’t have to be right; they are the next generation and it will be their world.
I rarely have read a post I disagree with as much as yours above, but it is fundimental to each of us, so no point of arguing, just a mention that I disagree.
No, I won’t just ‘get over’ being locked up for no good reason, made to wear masks just as Jews were made to wear stars and experimented on. Having our elderly killed by DNR and herded into lethal captivity. I want revenge on those who’ve done this to us and on the collaborators and fifth columnists who enabled it.
And just because a different generation has been brainwashed that critical race theory, LBGT, etc is normal doesn’t mean it is and they must be cured to save next generations from ruination.
I imagine you think having a govt that gets us and future generations in trillions of pounds in debt is normal, do you?