1/2: So basically, there's this thing called meritocracy, right? And there's a thing called fortuneocracy. So we can have these meritocratic or fortuneocratic beliefs, and we can be meritocritists, or we can be fortuneocritists. Um, so the danger of fortuneocracy is threefold. One, I think fortuneocracy is dangerous for the individuals that believe it. Second, it's dangerous for the other people in a society that don't believe it. And third, it's dangerous for the society as a whole. It's dangerous for the individuals because an individual that believes in a fortuneocracy doesn't know how to lose when they fail. So when they fail, instead of processing their emotions and considering what could they have done to do better, they can short-circuit that process. And fall back on a comforting fairy tale that soothes their suffering, but doesn't actually provide any learning opportunity. And so it neuters their ability to improve. So for instance, somebody worked hard to achieve a goal they really wanted. And when they failed, they felt it was very sad, and they decided that it was unfair. And the reason they failed was because of something they couldn't control, such as their racial background or where they grew up, or that the people they were competing against had better but illegitimate connections, or genetics, or wealthy families, or something like that. So like, I'm kind of laughing a little bit too much, but like, basically then, instead of going, okay, this hurts, and what can I do differently next time? The person who wants to believe in a fortuneocracy is going to go, this hurts, what can I do to feel better about it now? I know, actually, the people who beat me, they don't deserve their success. They didn't earn it, they got it through luck. And the reason I failed, the reason I didn't beat them, is because I don't have as much luck as those people. So you know what? It's not about me. It's not a reflection on me not being good enough, or not smart enough, or not working hard enough, or not working in the right way. It's actually not about that. What it means is, what my failure means is that life is unfair. And even though I should be successful, I'm not because of an unfair reason. So I don't actually have to feel suffering or pain about this at all. Wow, I actually feel a whole lot better. And now, every time I see a successful person, or hear about a successful person, instead of feeling maybe the possibility of being inspired by that person, or instead of feeling triggered that I'm not successful right now, I get to actually feel this smug sense of satisfaction that, huh, you only got that because you had more unfair advantages than I did. You're not better than me. Actually, I'm really fucking great. And I don't have to feel any suffering at all. And the reason is, because success isn't about hard work, or some responsibility or choices. Not really. The thing that matters at the end of the day, the people who are really successful, is they just had more luck. So you can see that the fortuneocratic belief, it leads to people thinking, I'm going to choose to deal with my suffering based on having this fantasy, fairy tale, comforting story that neuters my ability to learn and improve, and incorrectly mislays personal responsibility onto some other factors outside my control. But it makes me feel fucking great right now. I mean, maybe I don't feel totally great that the world is unfair. But boy, I feel great that it's not my fault anymore that I failed. And I think you can see that it's particularly sad, because the people who are going to hurt the most when they fail are probably going to be the people who want something the most, right? They're going to want it the most because they care about it, because it's important to them. So these people who have the potential to be great, and who are really hungry for success, are the ones paradoxically almost most at risk of the fortuneocratic delusion, because they experience so much pain and suffering when they lose. And yet they don't know how to lose properly. And they don't know how to process their emotions, that they are almost inevitably drawn to the seductive delusion of the fortuneocratic belief system. So it's inevitable, or if not inevitable, unexpected, sorry, it's to be expected rather, that many people who have a great potential for success, nevertheless, wither away into obscurity, because of their addiction to the fake victimhood, fake narrative, and to the fortuneocratic belief system, as a compensatory idea to soothe the pain of their failures that they have not taken responsibility for, or learned how to process correctly. So that's why a fortuneocracy is dangerous for the individuals who believe it.

Fortuneocracy is also dangerous for individuals who don't believe it. So for me, for example, I'm really terrified of a fortuneocracy, because I'm scared that even I get success, even I work hard and get wealth, it won't give me status. It won't make people admire me or respect me. In fact, people will just look at me like I'm something to be hated, like I'm something who is someone who is taken unfairly from them. Like I'm someone whose success and choices and hard work, it's not about me, but that it's illegitimate, that I'm some sort of abomination and obscenity that simply increases their suffering and epitomizes the unfair world that they have not been a beneficiary of. So in fact, I'm afraid of people who believe in a fortuneocracy, because I'm scared that my success will put me in danger. It'll put me in danger of abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, because people will look at me and think, you don't deserve that, you're not entitled to that, you don't have any claim over that. Your success is not legitimately yours. It's what you've taken from the rest of us by simply being more lucky, but your increased luck is not fair. And so nothing to do with you, you didn't earn it. So I'm afraid of people who believe that, because they will want to hurt me. They want to be inspired by me or admire me or respect me. My success won't lift me up into a position above them or into some social status where I will be treated well. It will encourage people to treat me badly, because I'm successful. And that scares me, because I want to be successful, but I also want people to treat me badly. But I also want people... Shit. But I also want people to treat me well, you know? So maybe I need to deal with my Freudian issues there with that split. But also maybe I need to understand that the respect and admiration of people who didn't understand how to make it for themselves doesn't really matter. But it's also dangerous for people like me, because if I do get successful and wealthy, and people who believe in a fortuneocratic system will think, well, that wealth is not legitimately yours. And if it's not legitimately mine, then they'll think I don't have a claim to it. And if I don't have a claim to it, then they'll think they can just take it from me. They'll think, why the fuck should I just give it to them? And not only will they be dependent and expecting from me, they'll think I should just give it to them. And they'll want to invent ideas to make it seem like somehow I'm bad, and somehow they're deserving, and somehow I should morally give it to them, because life's unfair and I didn't earn it legitimately. And so the danger of a fortuneocratic system for people who don't believe it, and who get successful, is that they're going to get robbed. They're going to have their wealth and maybe their life taken from them in order to satisfy the mistaken sense of entitlement and the twisted sense of fairness that possesses the fortuneocratic believers. Anyway, and so that's the danger to people who believe it and people who don't believe it.

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