Comments by "Curious Crow" (@CuriousCrow-mp4cx) on "" video.

  1. Meritocracy is a myth, an offshoot of the Protestant Work Ethic, which is even more misleading. Any society that rations the pathways to opportunity, doesn't believe in merit deep down. And the person who coined the term in his book in 1958, a British author whose name escapes me, admitted he was being satirical. So Louis CK's observation that the powerful are a very small club, and most of us will never be in it is quite true. For a really good book, recommended by the YT channel The Market Exit, get a copy of "The Inner Level" by Richard Wilkinson. Chapter 6 specifically deals with Meritocracy. For me this book really spoke to me about it, and explained far better than I could how "merit" is an cul de sac that leads to leaving barriers in place. Inequality of opportunity is a more fruitful place to start, because it points to the fact that still too many never get to put their foot near the ladder, nevermind putting their foot on the bottom rung, because it keeps getting kicked away by those who are already on top. And doing so is a very common human trait, that has life changing consequences that the in the aggregate, actually weakens our society and economic potential. The Inner Level is a sequel to the more academically rigorous book, The Spirit Level, which discusses a huge study done by Wilkerson on inequality. Check out The Market Exit's video on Inequality too.
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  2. Welcome back, Gary. This year was indeed an important, but difficult one for you. And knowing how difficult it would be, I'm glad you've come back and want to take things further. Hopefully, your Penguin publicist can help you find someone to take their place, who can get you into the places you need to be, to get the word out even further. But, keep looking after yourself because without you fit and happy, there's nothing. See you next Sunday.
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  3. PS Gary, might be worthwhile reaching out to Richard J Murphy for a chat, as he wrote the Joy of Tax and as you want to bring Distribution to the centre of economic thinking, it might be useful to have a chat with him, as he's just finished a big report on reforming the Tax System as you can see on his blog called "Funding The Future". He's also a daily uploader of short but focussed content on politics, economics, and accounting. I call him "Bomber" Murphy, because like you, he keeps on dropping truth bombs are very well targetted. And we need to find the joy in tax, because it's a tool that we need to understand far better and fear less. and talk about how if used correctly, tax can help counter and prevent economic externalities like misallocation, and promote fairness and wealth equality. Arguing against tax is like arguing against having taps, once you understand how they work.
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