“Equity” Cancels Merit

And here’s why:

From the Epoch Times:

“Inequality is an intractable problem that has plagued every society in history. Slavery in the United States and the treatment of indigenous peoples there and in Canada are examples of inequality that stem from a lack of opportunity imbedded in the historical development of these two countries.

“When it comes to rectifying such legacies, the principle of equal opportunity provides the fairest and most sustainable path forward. This cornerstone of a properly functioning meritocracy fosters self-determination and autonomy at both the individual and community level, resulting in a perpetual social flourishing.

The equity doctrine, on the other hand, prioritizes equality of outcome as a way to redistribute wealth across demographics. This pillar of socialist theory is currently promoted as the solution to many of society’s ills.”

TUDOR PLACE:  As indicated above, equality of opportunity goes hand in hand with the principle of SELF-DETERMINATION found in democratic/republican societies.  Equity of outcome is SOCIALISTIC, full stop.  Unless I’m missing something, the majority of voters in the US don’t want socialism.  Many aren’t even comfortable with a social democratic welfare state based on a firm social contract.

The aggrieved always want socialism, but all it results in — and we have this from history, NOT THEORY — is stagnation, destruction of incentive, hypocrisy and a new set of elites who while touting Marxist theory as gospel won’t hesitate to make use of market mechanisms as needed.  In other words, full-blown socialism is merely ANOTHER RACKET.

On the other hand, a meritocratic society — by rewarding excellence — enables itself to advance in line with its maximum capabilities.

Here’s the entire piece:

The Merits of Meritocracy

CHS: Demand Isn’t the Problem, It’s Supply

That’s why — AT LEAST IN THIS SENSE — IT’S DIFFERENT.

And as usual, Charles Hugh Smith nails it — and as SUCCINCTLY as anyone.

Inflation: Keynes the Gold Watch and Everything

Key points — all direct quotes:

  • Here’s the problem with the Keynesian economic order: it stopped the gold watch in 1932 when the world’s supply of oil and other resources could still be viewed as semi-infinite: supply was just waiting for more demand as a signal to increase. If demand increased, supply would always magically increase in parallel.
  • In this magical kingdom of Keynes, any scarcity / shortage would be transitory for two reasons: 1) stuff was basically infinite; there was always some new source to mine, drill, extract, etc., and 2) there is always a substitute for whatever is temporarily scarce: if the beef supply can’t be ramped up to meet demand, then people can buy a substitute, which is presumed to be in unlimited supply.
  • In 1932, the world was still awash in oil, and hydrocarbons and minerals seemed abundant beyond measure. The human population was growing but nowhere near utilizing the planet’s agricultural and fresh water supplies. Everything was essentially infinite; scarcities were transitory or localized.
  • Set the gold watch for 2021 and none of these conditions apply. The human populace has roughly quadrupled from 2 billion to 8 billion, the energy consumed per capita in developed nations has skyrocketed, resources are limited by depletion and costs of extraction, and as a result, scarcities are not transitory, they’re permanent.

TUDOR PLACE:  And if Americans can’t accept the realities of a SINGLE-PRONGED crisis such as a pandemic — one that is deadly and destructive of economies — how are we going to deal with the ROLLING KNOCK-ON EFFECTS OF ACUTE SHORTAGES OF BASIC MATERIALS.  Honestly?  NOT VERY WELL.

Let me euphemize this as best I can:

WE’RE HEADED FOR INTERESTING TIMES.

BOOK IT.

The Road Back to Segregation

The delusional quality of the ANTI-RACISM movement is now approaching Jacobin proportions with the guillotiners now guillotining THEIR OWN.

Yes, lady, your daughter belongs in the BLACK CLASS!

Say what, sister?

Atlanta Principal Segregating Students by Race

What’s next? Inmates running the asylum? Already happening. And you won’t need a scorecard to tell who’s who.

And the elephant waving its trunk in the room?

CRT HYSTERIA.

And, mea culpa, my liberal friends, here’s Fox’s surprisingly GOOD COVERAGE of the issue.

 

 

 

 

What Street Culture Looks Like in Congress

If you venture through the Jim Jordan looking glass — what you find on the other side is Cori Bush.  For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And in politics, we often lose on both sides of the glass.

If CRT is about LEVELLING THE PLAYING FIELD, well, then get ready for things to resemble Cori Bush.  She’s the picture of what LEVELLING looks like.

Cori Bush Wants Expensive Private Security AND to Defund the Police

By the way, where did the $70K she’s already spent come from?

Her Congressional perks slush fund?

Bad enough as that would be, let’s hope for her sake — we’re being generous — that that, indeed, was the source.

I hope Bill Maher gets into this.  What perfect fodder for him.

Lamda the Game Changer?

And I don’t mean in a positive way.

Other than providing a number of quotes and one critical chart, I’m not contributing much to this one.  But, don’t worry, you’ll certainly get the picture.

“As the New York Post reports, a not-yet peer-reviewed study out of Japan published on July 28 concludes that the C.37 Lambda variant is defeating the ‘leaky’ vaccine at an alarming rate.”

The strain has been contained in 26 countries, including substantial outbreaks in Chile, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador.

“Notably, the vaccination rate in Chile is relatively high; the percentage of the people who received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine was [about] 60%,” the authors write.

Nevertheless, a big COVID-19 surge has occurred in Chile in Spring 2021, suggesting that the Lambda variant is proficient in escaping from the antiviral immunity elicited by vaccination,” they warn. –New York Post

“In addition to increasing viral infectivity, the Delta variant exhibits higher resistance to the vaccine-induced neutralization,” wrote the authors, adding “Similarly, here we showed that the Lambda variant equips not only increased infectivity but also resistance against antiviral immunity.”

TUDOR PLACEGOT THAT?  HERE’S THE GRAPHIC FROM HELL: 

TUDOR PLACE:  MORE:

“In a similar not-yet peer-reviewed study out of Chile, investigators concluded “that mutations present in the spike protein of the lambda variant of interest confer increased infectivity and immune escape from neutralizing antibodies elicited by CoronaVac.”

TUDOR PLACE: CORONAVAC IS A CHINESE MANUFACTRED VACCINE USED IN PERU.

“Of note, Peru has the highest Covid-19 death rate of any country in the world – around 600 for every 100,000 people, about double the next highest country, Hungary. Around 81% of cases in Peru since April were the lambda variant, according to the WHO.

TUDOR PLACE:  IN CONCLUSION, HERE’S ZEROHEDGE CHIMING IN WITH A QUESTION TO US ALL REGARDING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION BORDER POLICY.  IT’S NOT ONLY A FAIR QUESTION BUT ALSO WARRANTED.

“The news comes amid an Axios report that the Pfizer vaccine was just 42% effective in July – when the Delta variant was dominant. Meanwhile, 40% of migrants bused into Laredo, Texas are Covid-positive.

The next time you hear Fauci, Biden or Psaki warn how scary the Lambda strain is, ask yourself why they won’t close the border – or mandate the ‘efficacy challenged’ vaccines they’ve bet the farm on.”

TUDOR PLACE:  UNCLE JOE, CLOSE THE BORDER!

UK Scientist: “Herd Immunity Is Not a Possibility”

Listen up.  His view of the situation is actually bleaker.  The Channel 4 News is Britain’s Channel 4.

There you have it.  Take it or leave it.  OR — take it AND leave it.  Or take one for the team.  Or leave for a NASA sponsored experimental stay on Mars.

But then is Mars COVID-safe?

Has the Delta Variant Peaked?

The model developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projected an 08-11-21 Delta variant peak in the US.

Former FDA head, Scott Gottlieb , has been tweeting about this as well, citing evidence that the “delta surge is starting to slow in some of the hardest hit states.”

Image
Image
Image
Image

Covidestim, a research project often cited by Gottlieb, shows the “R” or reproductive rate for COVID falling below 1.0 in Arkansas.

Finally, the “CDC shows that the number of new cases has already moved solidly back below 100K/day . . . .”

I’m neither touting nor knocking this information but simply passing it along.