My father and his generation learned to judge someone’s worth and value by the job they hold, and its been suggested to me in the past that i do the same. I don’t, as much as it can seem that i do. I judge the value and worth of a person according to what they’ve achieved, what they’ve done with their life, what they contribute to the greater world and what they are to me. I make no apology for that, and i don’t automatically grant value or worth to people i meet simply because they’re breathing. It’s not a case of you having to earn my acceptance, more that for me to spend my time or energy with you, you have to be more than the average. Its a choice of mine to choose my friends, those i trust and those i will interact with.

We give credit too easily. We set the bar too low and accept mediocrity like cheap fashion. We’ve got so used to saying “just do your best” and making a quiet life our collective goal that we’ve forgotten that we actually need to excel at everything we do. 500mph to go 110% at everything. Before this century, average life expectancy was so low that there was no taking of that life for granted, and a place in history was the only real social qualification - the catch was that it was only accessible to those with the money to afford an education. These days even the poorest and most disabled members of a country’s social class system have the ability to educate themselves thanks to a globalised system of information like the Internet.

Ironically, we are better equipped to create our own place in history but have never had less inclination to do so.

The apathetic “Will this do?” slacker culture is revolting enough and a massive drain on the populace’s productivity, not to mention our fucking GDP. Nothing but the very best is good enough. It doesn’t mean you think you’re any better than anyone else, or treat anyone differently, simply that you demand the best for yourself, work to achieve it, and expect it. Those who work the hardest and achieve the most deserve to be rewarded more than those who haven’t. The argument is one of proportion: do a little, get a little. Do a lot, get a lot. You get out what you put in. You keep the benefits you have worked for, and those who haven’t worked for them don’t get them or have any entitlement to them.

Are you really doing everything you could do? Are you really giving everything 150%? Are you just doing enough to get by or going for the world record? I get asked all the time whether i’ll ever stop, relax, chill out or just live my days out peacefully in some Buddhist meditation position.

The answer to that is pretty easy. No. I’m not stopping. I’m not slowing down. Our bodies are built to withstand punishment, and in fact operate a lot more effectively when they are exposed to it regularly. Physical “plateau” effects in gym training happen because our bodies get better and develop a tolerance for strain, which mean we need to continually refresh and challenge them to keep getting better. The mind is the same. If you don’t push, you slow down and stand still. Nothing satisfies me. Nothing will remove or quench my drive as there will always be a bigger mountain, a new idea around the corner or a war to fight.

So no, it’ll never be good enough. So my challenge to everyone I know is that you’re not setting the bar high enough and being too lacklustre. Your expectations should be higher, as should your ambitions. You do deserve things exclusively and don’t have to share the spoils of your success or be modest about them. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be elite or part of the elite at all - its natural, and quite healthy. My argument is that most people don’t value themselves highly enough or comfortably rest in the idea that its OK to want to be more, have more and/or enjoy more than others. There is some bizarre guilt complex at work that has brainwashed millions into thinking its wrong somehow, and that we should all live in a equal, pluralistic commune.

I am prejudiced. I do discriminate. And again, i make no apology for it. Achieving and making something of yourself is something to be proud of, and the rewards are what make it worthwhile. I discriminate against those who live in a world like we do, with all the pleasures and luxuries we have in the face of others’ deprivation, and take it for granted. Those people who don’t bother to do anything to make their lives any better, think about anything for longer than a second, rise above their station or just sit in the muddied quicksand they claim life dropped them in. Those who don’t bother to try and work any of it out. I’m not going to spit in anyone’s face, i just won’t make them a coffee or ask their opinion on anything.

In politics, that school of thought has a name: Meritocracy. Democracy is the rule of the majority, and in case you were wondering, in Britain, we live in a constitutional monarchy. A meritocracy is where social position and political power are held by those who have demonstrated their superior abilities and talents, rather than acquiring it through wealth, sweat or bloodline. The best get to control, and only the fittest survive. Those who are most deserving get what’s on offer. Balance comes through having a diversity of abilities, for example, a disabled person might not be able to run the 100 metres, but they may just have a brain capable of maths more advanced than anyone else they know. In a meritocracy, that puts them at the top of the pile. If you don’t try or bother, you sit at the bottom until you pull yourself up.

Communism (Marxism) and socialism are wonderful ideologies and beautiful ideals, but they both fail for one very simple reason: they rely on pseudo-altruism and go against the core principles of human nature. All the regimes in the world that are based on them become essentially autocratic or kleptocratic and rely on control of the masses. Capitalism works because it’s in harmony with the principle darkness of human nature. Our darkness is more tempting and powerful than our goodness, so you could say these systems are naive idealism and destined to fail before they begin.

Meritocracy may be somewhat brutal, but its true and actually fair, being a little less offensive than oligarchy or cronyism. We have to ask ourselves where exceptional skill and talent comes from - the answer is practice and unrelenting execution. To get good at something, you have to overcome your fears and keep doing it to improve. Talent gives you an 5% extra go-faster stripe, but to be outstanding you have to work your ass off, not just expect it all to fall on your doorstep. If you stop, you weaken. If you set your targets and expectations low, you’re on course to be part of the general background noise. If you’re happy with that, fine. Just don’t whinge, begrudge or try to deny anyone else what you don’t want anyway by calling them greedy, arrogant or intimidating.

Or perhaps more appropriately, because their success highlights your failure. To the contrary - their success is your licence to do the same.

Why should you be entitled to what someone else has created, earned or acquired? Why should anyone act charitably? Ever seen an animal do that in the wild, other than to safeguard its bloodline or survival interests? It seems a little sanctimonious to be all high and righteous when we’re not really designed to be so cutesy, philanthropic and helpful to each other. As is been so wisely said, the weak perish, and it will be fun to see how long they keep the earth after they inherit it.

In Might is Right, Ragnar Redbeard rejects conventional ideas of human rights or natural rights and argues that only strength or physical might can establish moral right. Its a bleak and violent outlook, but one that you can easily recognise as being effective and well established. The strongest win. Being strong doesn’t mean violence, it means the ability to adapt to change and/or evolve. Those that survive and prosper are those who are aware enough, brave enough and diverse enough to recognise and exploit opportunity when it arises, and be ruthless enough to neutralise any competition that may threaten their ownership or enjoyment of what they have acquired.

All of that type of philosophy comes under a family umbrella that has formed from one of the most popular and influental scientific doctrines ever formalised - Darwinism, or natural selection.
By definition, Social Darwinism is:

[..] the philosophy that Darwin’s theory can be extended and applied to the social realm, i.e. that just as competition between individual organisms drives biological evolutionary change (speciation) through “survival of the fittest“, competition between individuals, groups, or nations drives social evolution in human societies.

One of Darwin’s most fascinating discussion topics (in The Descent Of Man) was the idea of spiritual evolution and how the supernatural fits in to human development and sociobiology in general. The question is just how far we allow our animal selves to run rampant before we reign them in for higher purposes, such as generosity, charity and philanthropy. Whether we are designed to be autonomous despots or something more. Our capacity for either is unlimited. If you want to see genius, look for those who think differently and see the world in a different way to others, no matter how alien or unfamiliar it may be. If you want to see fitness, look for those who ride the wave of change and don’t just chatter about it. Only action matters, as talk is cheap. Bullshit walks, as does generalism. We all know something about nothing.

I think it fundamentally comes down to a matter of balls. In the days of the Vietnam war in 1964, Joan Baez refused to pay 60% of her income tax in protest at 60% of government spending being made on weapons to maim and kill people. Those who get what they want in life put themselves on the line and risk everything. They think and act big, and do it fearlessly. These days our generation is in serious danger of becoming a bunch of sanitised, castrated and morbidly pathetic cowards who daren’t speak up or make a difference for fear of standing out or looking like a whinger. Somewhere our defiance was lost. I for one am happy to stand alone. If you want to join me, feel free to pick up your weaponry and let out a war cry.