Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

If you were flipping a coin, and you had never done it before, and you got 10 heads in a row, wouldn't you think it was easy? That's what most successful people believe: they attribute their winnings to hard work & skill, where in reality they were simply at the extreme margins of probability. Unfortunately, since nothing but chance separates the winners from the rest of us, and luck can't be quantified, we simply ignore that most essential of all components. But the problem is, we've built a society around the mythology of merit, when in reality the top quarter of the population could randomly replace anyone else. There is no reason for the astounding income inequality among that group but only the top 1% receive the vast majority of the spoils, and are sure they deserve it due to their singular polished performance. I can say one thing for certain, all the second place finishers certainly don't equate their loss to stupidity, laziness or being awkward.

Then there's the insidious natural tendency for people to think they are special due to their birthright, that simply being in the family tree of some exceptionally lucky progenitor, they too are exceptional & revel in their superiority. This is the foundation of aristocracy, and it is corrosive to a liberty society because superiority & respect do not mix well; servants, no matter how competent, are in a lower class, and will forever be treated that way, consciously & unconsciously, it's human nature. Rather than discuss a particular solution to this inevitable problem, it's best to recognize it exists & should be accounted for. If an elite class is allowed to think they deserve to exist, their asymmetric power will guide the reins of government to always prefer them. Liberal democracies can only exist if people agree to follow the rules, whether it be a pedestrian class violating The Law, or the patrician class violating the essence of The Deal.