Letter to The Economist: Britain's Got Talent
December 30, 2009 12:00 PM
Originally published by Sarah Ludford MEP
Originally published by Sarah Ludford MEP
Bagehot made the point that "'Good luck to him' was once a characteristic British attitude to self-made wealth" (December 12th). Unlike you, I believe it still is. What riles the British is wealth made through inherited or institutional privilege, monopoly, manipulation of regulation, consumer rip-offs, and, as in bankers' bonuses, gambling with other people's money, losing, being rescued by the taxpayer, having no bloody gratitude and expecting to start the whole scandalous round all over again.
I believe that Britons have as much regard, admiration and absence of jealousy as they ever did for entrepreneurs who succeed through talent or a bright idea exploited through sheer hard work. We also like (though we might be jealous of) a truly lucky winner like a lottery millionaire and admire (though we might think them cocky) a successful TV talent-show contestant who has the guts to run the gauntlet of judges and audience.
Yours sincerely,
Sarah Ludford MEP
(This letter was published by The Economist on 30 December 2009.)
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