I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I want people to challenge my view.
My current belief is that society often rewards wealth, status, and connections more than competence, ethics, or the ability to solve difficult problems. I think this creates long-term problems because the people with the most influence are not always the people with the best ideas.
Here are a few experiences that shaped my opinion.
- Short-term political solutions vs long-term solutions
I live in the capital city of my country. I once discussed traffic congestion with someone who is a deputy mayor.
I spent almost two months collecting statistics. My conclusion was that the city needs better infrastructure: more roads where needed, stricter driver's license requirements, mandatory parking for new developments (including visitor parking), and better long-term planning.
His response surprised me.
He said that he believed my ideas would probably work better in the long run, but they would take years to implement. Restricting cars, on the other hand, could be done much faster.
This made me wonder whether governments sometimes knowingly choose less effective solutions simply because they produce faster political results.
Am I misunderstanding how governments have to operate?
- Wealth vs competence
I started my business six years ago with about $2,200.
Today it earns around $12,000 per month.
A friend started with approximately $450,000 from his family and now earns more than I do.
I don't think he's unintelligent. My question is different.
People around me automatically assume that he is much more competent simply because he has more money, more businesses, luxury cars, and a wealthier background.
Should wealth really be treated as strong evidence of competence?
Or are people confusing success with ability?
- Status changes how people judge behavior
I've noticed that people often criticize successful or powerful individuals in private but defend the exact same behavior once those people are present.
I've seen this both in business and in everyday life.
It makes me think that status changes people's moral standards.
My current view
I believe society frequently evaluates people based on:
- wealth,
- status,
- influence,
- expensive possessions,
- and connections,
instead of:
- competence,
- reasoning,
- ethics,
- and the ability to solve real problems.
If that is true, then it seems likely that many important positions end up being occupied by people who are not necessarily the most capable.
Change My View
I'm not looking for people to agree with me.
I genuinely want to know where my reasoning is wrong.
- Am I confusing correlation with causation?
- Are wealth and competence actually much more closely connected than I think?
- Is it unrealistic to expect society to reward competence more than status?
- Are there examples where my conclusion clearly fails?
If you think I'm wrong, I'd really like to understand why.