Elitism Turns Good Fortune into a Curse

Elitism Turns Good Fortune into a Curse
I. Fate: Elites Are Simply Lucky
Human nature is good, and everyone possesses innate wholeness: this is a basic axiom of Zhuangzi, Zen Buddhism, Marxism, and humanistic psychology.
From this, the inevitable conclusion is that the distinction between the elite and the ordinary, between good people and bad people, ultimately comes down to luck.
This is not a defense of bad people. They should face the appropriate legal consequences. But this is not a courtroom; we are simply discussing fate.
Elite status comes from luck. So-called talent is luck. Is a gymnast’s talent less precious than a football player’s? Is a Go player’s talent less precious than an esports player’s? Yet the latter earn more. That is luck. What people value is not talent but high income. For the many national-level athletes who retire early and fall into poverty, talent can seem like a curse.
For those adept at taking exams, making smooth progress through school without being derailed by family conflict, illness, poverty, or bullying, graduating from a prestigious university, having a major that happens to be in demand, finding success at work, getting promotions and raises, and succeeding in business—all of this is luck. Step outside the individual ego and look at the fate of a generation, and talent and effort play very small roles.
Having one’s talent discovered is also luck. So-called effort is also luck: learned helplessness versus self-efficacy.
This account in terms of “luck” does not belittle individuals. It encourages those who come out ahead to feel empathy and compassion rather than arrogance and superiority, and allows those who fail to find peace.
II. Is Luck Shared, or Used to Torment Others?
In primitive societies and communist societies, advantages do not become a basis for exploiting others. One person’s luck is the entire tribe’s luck; everyone shares that luck to withstand the world’s misfortunes.
But the historical stage we inhabit is clearly different. It is a tournament system: the winner takes all, the strong rule, and the losers eat dust.
III. Thus, the Elitism of Those Who Come Out Ahead Becomes a Curse
Elites construct elitist narratives to sustain their sense of superiority and monopolize status. This is clearly a curse upon the masses.
For elites themselves, the sense of superiority that elitism brings may shine brilliantly for a time. But fortunes fluctuate and reach low points, and the boomerang of elitism will then strike them. “You Cannot Be a Social Darwinist or an Elitist Only When Luck and Power Are on Your Side: A Common Pattern Among Programmers at Big Tech Companies and Finance Professionals”
The elite class’s fear of downward mobility, and their lifelong anxiety over themselves and their children, is a curse. That this consequently compels them to stand firmly with conservatism, opposing revolution and historical progress, is also a curse.
For the masses who have “failed,” the elitism that permeates everything is clearly a curse at every turn. They must resist it.
Clearly, among those unwilling to accept their lot, envy and jealousy will arise, giving rise to actual curses directed at elites.
Before birth, human beings are equal atoms in the universe; after death, they return to being equal atoms in the universe. If these few short decades of being human do not embody the radiance of our humanity, is that lifetime a curse?
Elitism itself constructs a Lovecraftian world.