"The Best Way to Spot an Idiot"

[Rachel Rugelach]

The title of this thread comes from an inspiring commencement speech recently given by J.B. Pritzker, Governor of Illinois, to Northwestern University's Class of 2023. Video is below, Governor Pritzker's quoted text is in blue font.

The best way to spot an idiot. Look for the person who is cruel.

Let me explain. When we see someone who doesn't look like us, or sound like us, or act like us, or love like us, or live like us, the first thought that crosses almost everyone's brain is rooted in either fear or judgment or both.

That's evolution. We survived as a species by being suspicious of things that we aren't familiar with.

In order to be kind, we have to shut down that animal instinct and force our brain to travel a different pathway. Empathy and compassion are evolved states of being. They require the mental capacity to step past our most primal urges.

This may be a surprising assessment because, somewhere along the way in the last few years, our society has come to believe that weaponized cruelty is part of some well thought-out master plan.

Cruelty is seen by some as in an adroit cudgel to gain power.

Empathy and kindness are considered weak.

Many important people look at the vulnerable only as rungs on a ladder to the top.

I'm here to tell you that when someone's path through this world is marked with acts of cruelty, they have failed the first test of an advanced society. They never forced their animal brain to evolve past its first instinct. They never forged new mental pathways to overcome their own instinctual fears. And so, their thinking and problem solving will lack the imagination and creativity that the kindest people have in spades.

Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true: The kindest person in the room is often the smartest.

 

[Rachel Rugelach]

Thanks to all who have read the post above and/or viewed the accompanying video in which J.B. Pritzker addresses the graduating class. The beginning of his speech was pretty funny, but I didn't include it in the transcript above because I wanted to focus on the main point of his speech.

"Cruelty is seen by some as an adroit cudgel to gain power." Or, to hold onto power.

I've been seeing more of that in our society these days. In fact, I think that cruelty has become more acceptable in politics and, by extension through the example of some leaders, thereby more acceptable in general society. For example, the act of acknowledging that one was wrong and then apologizing seems nowadays to be viewed as a sign of weakness.

I remember a time when "winning" wasn't the main thrust of a political career, but instead it was "serving." I think that time when serving mattered most was when America was truly great. The irony is that those who place "winning" over "serving" seem to believe that this is what will make America "great again."