We appreciate him because he speaks his mind and seems keen to tackle important issues others avoid out of fear of damaging their reputation.

The issue he raises is an important one. In a society increasingly divided by merit, what do we do about those who lack any? In the good old days the class system ensured that many people without an ounce of wit still managed to be represented in good numbers in high office. This is no longer the case.

We have significant numbers of people who are neither intelligent, pleasant, nor (which has been the saving grace of many dim people with a ghastly personality) good looking. What the hell do we do with them, and what should we do with them?

Make them be mayor your largest cities. Worked for Boris.

I want him to become leader of the Tory Party .... oh how we would laugh !!

I don't think even that would be enough for Ed to win the election. Maybe if we chose Gove you'd have half a chance.

Predictable jokes aside, Putin, Boris is highly intelligent and has a personality many find appealing. As far as his speach goes, I don't actually think there was anything all that controversial in it. The media are looking for a story, and as interesting as the sotry would have been, it didn't really happen.

Yes, please let Michael Gove become leader of the Tory party. That would be hilarious. He's popular with a certain element of the party but if he was top man he'd lead them into the wilderness for several years. He's an idiot.

Or Eric Pickles. Can you imagine Eric Pickles as party leader?

"In a society increasingly divided by merit, what do we do about those who lack any?"

There aren't any, you heartless tory monster fuck. Added to my block list

Careless elitism indeed. Reminds me of the 47% remark.

If only people like Nick Clegg were actually in government to - oh wait.

I'd love to see a series where BJ does the USA (or anywhere foreign, it could be just Northern England )..... it would be a must watch.
I already have a name for the program .... 'An Idiot Abroad' (or up North)

Added to Synapse's block list for, I assume, lacking enough merit to notice that nobody lacks merit? That's probably my best accomplishment on this site for months :).

I have to wonder what kind of sheltered life certain people must lead that they never encounter those of low intellect, ability, and nasty personality. They do exist and are not all that uncommon.

@Octavious I met them daily. I just don't think they need judgement passed on them.

Though mostly the ones with high intellect have the nastiest personalities. But I'm sure I don't need to say this on WebDip.

I grew up on a council estate and I'm of a much higher social class than the pleb Octavious will ever be. Because I don't pass prejudiced ignorant remarks on other people while dreaming that I'm fucking Napoleon. GTFO

Yes I'm mad and ranting but let me say this; the difference between people with merit and people without are that people with merit empathise and help others and people without merit are those that cynically project their own selfish “social Darwinist” ideology onto everybody else. There are plenty of people without merit but they’re not the jobless bums that Octavious thinks, who would often give 10 pence of their pound to another hungry stranger. They’re the people who won’t give a penny from their £100,000 and justify it with some officious ethos of how they’ve earned their money and everybody else is a “scrounger”. Feel free to make a joke but take your Ayn Rand batshit mentality away from any serious debate please because it makes you worse in my opinion than any football hooligan or drug dealer.

@ Synapse: You're a very angry little man. You have my sympathy.

@TMoW: The point that those of low intelligence will struggle to succeed (in a financial sense at least) in the modern world is valid. Of that group those who also lack other talents or likeabilty will struggle to succeed in every sense. I don't think that is passing judgement. It is more shining a light on a fact of life that most of us choose to ignore.

"Boris is highly intelligent and has a personality many find appealing"

Sure, if you find social Darwinism appealing, then Boris Johnson is a regular gentleman. And naturally you find nothing objectionable about heaping abuse on a large section of your own country. I've yet to see you offended by a single thing except any derogatory comment, much less one filled with class warfare like this speech.

Most people aren't fond of his Gordon Gekko ethos, though, but I'm sure British Tories, who like to pretend they are more "moderate" than their American cousins, will find reasons to rejoice.

Eddie Mair fully exposed this charlatan for being a nincompoop a long time ago. But since leadership in the Tory Party is so poor, they still cling to him like he's their messiah.

edit out *except any*

I don't know why Octavious hates the States so much. If he likes poor/victim hating boors like Johnson, he'll love the Tea Party. They do everything Johnson does in spades. And they're usually a lot more humorous.

You've neither heard nor read the speech, have you Putin? There isn't an ounce of abuse heaping in it.

I'm not an angry person at all. Your views are appalling. That statement about merit basically justifies any kind of social cleansing doctrine to remove those people "without merit". If this isn't what you meant by all means retract your statement, but while it stands, fuck you.

"The point that those of low intelligence will struggle to succeed (in a financial sense at least) in the modern world is valid."
This is not true in the City of London when the school you attended or the family you come from weighs massively in your favour in certain institutions, nepotism is rife, The City of London is full of arseholes and chinless wonders who make money for nothing who think the sun shines out of their backside, odious spineless characters who come the revolution wouldn't last 5 minutes because they are completely useless ..... that is the sad reality, meritocracy? .....certainly not.
It's not what you know it's who you know.

@ SYnapse

Are you seriously suggesting I was promoting the idea of death camps for the unpleasant?!? No one can possibly be that stupid :p.

+1 Nigee.

We don't live in a meritocracy. Britain less than most even.

Second, you seem to imply that there is one standard of being an upstanding contributing member of society. There isn't. History is full of artists, thinkers, philosophers who were vilified in life and recognised after. Far be it for you to make that judgement on living human beings.

@TMoW

Oh? Name some of these artists, thinkers and philosophers with an IQ estimated to be in the low 80s. Can't think of any offhand myself.

Lol you are so fuckin stupid. Most scientists agree that IQ is not a good measure of intelligence, that there are different types, that IQ tests do not even measure the kind of intelligence they're supposed to (logical reasoning) very well. If you want an example of someone "stupid" who was successful, John F Kennedy's IQ was estimated at 119.

While I'm sure you have a great IQ Octavious aka Nero, you are greatly lacking in emotional and moral intelligence in which your IQ may be said to be about 30 incomparison to people I know who have a great emotional IQ. Example, when I was homeless for a year I was taken in by a family with loads of kids, jobless, exactly what you'd call "scum" with your polished brass friends. They bought me Christmas presents and treated me like part of the family. When's the last time you did something like that? Never. You have a lot of growing up to do.

It's sad you have to be so direct with him SY but if people won't listen it's difficult to educate them.

@SYnapse

You clearly know nothing about me, but it amuses me that you think you do. You make so many false assumptions it's like a tragic comedy. If I were you I'd take a moment to step back and look at what you are doing.

What has a family with a load of kids got to do with anything I have said? Did they have a particularly low intellect? You've not mentioned it. They clearly were saints to put up with a hate filled homeless man, so they can't possibly fit into category of dim witted unpleasant people I was talking about.

What the hell is your Kennedy point supposed to prove? A man with a high IQ became president? That sort of support's Boris' point. Or are you making the false assumption that I am a Republican supporter and combining it with an even more ridiculous assumption that I believe everyone not from a party I support to be stupid to create yet another bizarre and idiotic conclusion about me?

Your example family are not the people I am talking about, and neither are you as you clearly have some wit hidden behind the fog of hate and prejudice. God only knows what happened to make you like this. I genuinely hope you are not one of those pathetic examples of people with brains who fucked up their lives and ended up leaching off of the kindness of good people, like that family, to survive.

@SY - don't let him intimidate you with reasoned argument, that's what Cameron did to the British public and see how we've suffered since.

If Boris were to achieve national power NONE of us would be laughing! This man is not funny he is dangerous. If you really want the UK to lurch so far to the right that UKIP look middle of the road then keep treating him as a joke, because that is JUST what he wants.

@Octavius You seem to think that there is such a thing as 'merit'. Could you define it? And how do we measure it?

We define it presumably by how many Roman Emperors one can name in 5 minutes.

It's always strange to see British players hating on the City. It and Trident are the last things keeping your country relevant on the world stage.

@Invictus - and what is keeping your country relevant?

A massive nuclear arsenal, a navy that can project power anywhere it wishes, a massive manufacturing base, farmland, an education system that (despite the complaints about how bad it is) produces innovators that keep technology progressing, etc etc etc

This is such a brilliant answer I can hardly respond but just to conclude the things that Krellin thinks makes the USA relevant are:-
1) Massive nuclear arsenal
2) a navy that can 'project power' anywhere
3) massive manufacturing base
4) farmland
5) an education system that producers innovators that keep technology progressing
Your answers are incredulous, truly revealing !!

"We have significant numbers of people who are neither intelligent, pleasant, nor (which has been the saving grace of many dim people with a ghastly personality) good looking. What the hell do we do with them, and what should we do with them?"

Low skill jobs, which don't require much social interaction.

Unremarkably, those who lack the ability required for high skill jobs, or the social skills or business acumen required to run a business on their own will, as they often have be reduced to manual labor.

That's just how things are.

And if the person is in the unfortunate circumstance of having a terrible personality combined with a lack of skills? Often people who can't hold down jobs will unfortunately turn to crime. Perhaps not inevitable, but unsurprising. These people often go to jail, which I suppose is in some ways another form of welfare.

Three squares, free heat, electric, cable, and more? Yeah, jail is better than abject poverty for sure.