Ministry of Stupidity

If it wasn’t tragic, I would think it was comic. Mr. Rodriguez (a.k.a. “Zapatero”) has decided that Spaniards require further ministerial indoctrination. We have recently been blessed with a brand new Ministry for Equality.Its role is not very clear but that is beyond the point...the fact is that we now have another chauffeur-driven, budget-wielding, incompetent politician with no significant track record of any sort beyond many years of carefree expenditure of taxpayers’ euros. The fortunate recipient of this taxpayers’ largesse is a young woman by the name of Bibiana Aído. She is only 31 years old but has already profited from many years of public larceny. Before her designation she was the “Director for the Andalucian Agency for the Development of Flamenco of the Council for Culture of the Andalusian Regional Government”, where she spent almost three meaningful and productive years. She was recently acknowledged in the press for singing the praises of Mr. Rodríguez during the recent election campaign: “Oh, Jose Luis, smile! You have a clean smile that favours you so much”. Anyway, enough said about this aspiring looter: maybe I do bear some grudge for not having achieved chauffeur-driven status after many years of work.

Let’s move on to the mission that Ms. Aído has been charged with. Ministry of Equality...hmmm. I suppose “Equality” is a concept that no-one can object to, at least on initial reflection. I suspect, however, that Mr. Rodriguez and I disagree as to what we mean by equality. As a good socialist, Mr Rodriguez and his young henchwoman Ms Aído defend equality as an enforced concept. We must all be equal: but equal to what or to whom? No doubt that Mr Rodriguez and his fan club already have a view as to their ideal “equal”. It is probably not dissimilar to the “equal” that Stalin and Hitler portrayed in their propaganda. The new socialist “super-person” of the 21st Century that we must all aspire to be. Therefore they are sure to legislate that we are must all be or act “equal”...the choice to be different, to be independent, to have free will, has to be eliminated. This socialist concept is based on the false premise that either we are all equal or that we aspire to be equal. In fact, I have news for you...we are not and we do not (at least I don’t). People have different abilities and aspirations based on genetic and environmental factors: some of us are better suited at some things than others and we have to match our aspirations to these- I would love to run 100m in less than 10secs or get a Pritzker Price in archictecture but neither speed nor technical drawing are my fortes. To legislate specifically for equality is the same as to legislate for the sun’s disappearance- idiotic and doomed to failure.

The definition of equality that I relate to is associated with the availability of opportunities/choice for all via the creation of an enviroment which encourages the elimination of entrenched privilege of all types; ie. the establishment of a society where each person can pursue their individual aspirations according to their desires and abilities, based on a minimum framework of laws. I don’t think we need a Ministry for Equality for that; in fact I don’t think we need any more ministries, thank you.