Keith, I doubt if there is a declining potential future elite with India and China a couple of bytes away. If we only look at Europeans, you may have a point but even the Europeans in the US will become a minority in a couple of decades. We continue to survive by importing superior foreigners. Every time I notice the winners of school academic achievement, those of European decent seem to be left out.
Further, and more important, my guess is that those who are willing to sacrifice all for achievement in corporations or government tend to be followers who are willing to kiss 'a**' to move up. I am not sure that the meritocracy process really selects the best. That certainly is true in US government except, perhaps for a guy like Wellstone. Also, we have had a bunch of heads of fast growing corporations who must have skipped math[s] on their way up. The elite in terms of pure brainpower are in astronomy. Bill On Mon, 04 Nov 2002 08:33:11 +0000 Keith Hudson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Bill, Mike, Stephen, > > All three of you have forced me to defend the legitimacy of IQ tests > even > though I was not concerned with them directly in my original > posting. I was > merely using "IQ" as a handy way of referring to "intelligence" > which, > however hard to define, is something we all aware of and is quite > obvious > whenever we talk to, or of, anybody we know well. > > The main point of my post was that several associated trends are > going on: > > (a) Modern social and economic life is becoming more complex and a > sizeable > (and growing) meritocratic elite is necessary; > > (b) This growing class of individuals is characterised by being > busy, > highly mobile and usually having to work long hours away from home > or the > local community; > > (c) The elite is not selected on the basis of IQ scores but is > self-elective (and mutually identifiable) via a multitude of > institutional > selective and protective devices; > > (d) To some extent so far, the work and responsibility of the > meritocratic > elite has been compensated for by status and high salaries. The > latter is > able to pay for good holidays, nannies and nurseries for pre-school > children, restaurant meals and other expenditures to replace the > no-pay > domestic work which the parent is now too busy to do. > > However, the lopsidedness of the burden is growing all the time and > the > elite will soon realise (if they do not do so already) that they are > on a > hiding to nothing. The mass of the population is becoming > increasingly > demanding as to their "rights", but the elite has to pay the price > by > carrying even more responsibility. > > The elite must also be aware that they are declining in numbers > because of > differential fertility even with desperate attempts to increase the > educational levels of the masses. The elite must be increasingly > coming to > the view that unless the proportion of the meritocracy grows > steadily > within the population in the coming years then further progress > along the > technological track which man has been treading ever since the > bronze age > (or agricultural age, or whenever) is becoming increasingly dubious. > Nor > can we turn the clock back and re-adopt simpler cultures unless we > have a > monumental nuclear war and lose most of our present population. > > In my original posting I suggested that the meritocratic elite will > find > ways of increasing their numbers (and also, which I didn't mention, > of > developing far more effective gated communities than at present) by > using > biogenetic techniques (IVF and, when developed, IVG[gestation] ) in > order > for them to look after themselves more directly -- and shrug off > some of > the (growing) responsibility that they are presently expected to > carry on > behalf of the rest of the population. > > Violence (by parents and children) in our schools, and violence (by > patients) in our hospitals, is growing relentlessly. (This is > already > significant in England, but almost certainly will occur more > frequently in > America and other developed countries.) It is no wonder that, for > several > years, increasing numbers of newly qualified teachers and doctors > are > simply declining to enter their professions they had previously so > enthusiastically trained for. (Fairly soon, they won't even bother > to start > training for them!) Also, increasing numbers of teachers and doctors > are > retiring prematurely. I am not making a political point here. The > demands > being made by the mass of the population on the meritocracy is > becoming too > great to be sustained for much longer without some corrective > developments. > > Keith Hudson > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- > -------------- > Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England > Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ________________________________________________________________________ > > ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com
