12/15/2006
myth 102
'Elites are not proud'
I was reading Adrian Tan's thought about the uncaring elitist debate. After acknowledging that elites are found in all societies and that it is self deception to pretend that there is no elite, and admitting that he too is an elite, he came to the conclusion that the solution is a little pretence.
I agree with him that the elites deserved to be where they are and to be proud of their achievements. And naturally whatever they do may be a little cocky or perceived to be cocky. And that blatant abuses of the plebians are a no no. Pardon my punt.
There are many ways to make elites more acceptable and friendly and lovable. Give them more publicity, and even if they are punks or hoodlums like some of those excellent footballers or other celebrities, they will still be adored. Make their antics admirable and cool, like some were heard to have splashed their faeces on the ceiling of hotel suites etc.
But if all else failed, as Adrian suggested, a little pretending to be humble, will go a long way. Anyway this world is full of pretences and hypocrisies. Just pretend to be nice, act nice, say some nice things and people will forget who they really are.
It is so simple and easy for the elites to be nice. Not too much to try to be nice, or pretend to be nice.
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5 comments:
"Another reason to articulate this message loudly and repeatedly is that today, unlike in my time, scholars come from wealthier families. The Public Service Commission is reported to have said that in the last five years, one in three students awarded scholarships are from families that have household incomes of $10,000 a month, even though official statistics show that such families make up just 13 per cent of all households here. Students from households on monthly incomes of less than $2,000 made up only 7 per cent of scholarship holders."
This quote is from his article. Don't you find it interesting that 33% of all scholarships go to the people who need them the least?
and why shouldn't 33% of all scholarships go to the rich and the elite, if they are deserving them? The elite and the well-off children by sheer luck of birth are born in rich families where they get the best education, tuition and guidance come out on top of the HDB dwellers. I see no reason why they are not deserving of the scholarships.
the natural law of selection will govern the survival of the universe and a nation. we cannot hold back the able and talented to run ahead and govern the country or become rich. if we do that we will compromise everything that we built.
meritocracy on its own, in its ideal state, cannot be faulted. our problem is the uneven playing field. we are not getting the real talents up there. alright, it is too sweeping to say that. many of the real talents are up there. but many average talents are up there as well. and many real talents are wasted.
this is the reality of society where money can buy many things. let me give a simple illustration.
a pc can have a 2gb ram processor and 100gb hdd. another with a 512mb ram and 60gb hdd. which is more powerful? obvious right?
but if you input 20 programmes into the 100gb pc but 200 programmes into the 60gb pc, which will work better? the 100gb is really the better pc but not allowed or not given the opportunity to function to its max because of inadequate programming.
then the average or not so powerful pc appears to be more talented. and this is another law of nature that will lead to the demise of powerful state. a kind of inbreeding and the genes get degraded.
and the farmers will overthrown the dictators. for the farmers also have good genes.
I believe the scholars of this country need to be given the opportunity to reach their optimum heights, be he/she rich or poor. However, the children from rich parents have an added advantage that money can buy them. Tough if your parents are poor, just hard luck for you. That is the natural of the world. You are either at the top of the food chain or the bottom. So, if you cannot make it, don't blame the system. 66.6% of Singaporeans voted for the system. Live with it and stop bitching.
hi anonymous,
you are right. and i mean it. not joking this time. the realities of life is such that the able and powerful will take everything. but we, as humans, must attempt or try to differentiate ourselves from animals in the animal kingdom.
national leaders have a duty to level the playing field. but i admit that this is not easy. and it does not mean that they should not try or at least pretend to try instead of going around telling brutal truths.
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