Michael Hurst
2 min readDec 10, 2020

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No doubt. Also some White women, Black men, Black women .... This was described decades ago in The Peter Principle. But with most of the people at the top being White men, it is easy - and cheap and shallow - to attribute this to Whiteness. Although there are few BIPOCs at the top in America, women have begun to break that ceiling. And we are finding that "some" women, and some POC are just as devious and deceitful and mediocre as men. See Elizabeth Holmes. See Clarence Thomas. Many other examples.

Yes, I get it that women and BIPOC have to work harder and perform better to get ahead. That is a fact of our current economic system and it is a travesty and it has to stop. But If you were to apply this analysis to countries in Africa, or Asia, or any country where White men do not even register, you will find the same phenomenon, just favoring some ethnic group or tribe or political organization over others.

People, of any stripe, tend to rise to the level of their own incompetence. It is a fact of life, and applies across ethnicity, genders. countries, economic systems, and political systems. And so does discrimination, nepotism, and corruption. This systemic failure is an offshoot of human nature, not just White male humans.

In America, we White guys are now the Bad Guys. I accept that the system favors us, and that the system is fucked up. But I didn't make the system. My momma taught me a lesson early in life - if you want people to be on your side, don't start out by insulting them first. Save your insults until after you've won.

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Michael Hurst
Michael Hurst

Written by Michael Hurst

Economist and public policy analyst, cyclist and paddler, and incorrigible old coot.

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