Nepo babies are everywhere. I'm a structural welder/crane operator and I have been through 6 leadership changes in 3 years because someone thought it would be ok to put 22 year olds in charge of men that have 22+ years experience on the job.
The bosses son is half my age and is a savant at what he does. In fact both of his son's are highly intelligent. I could write a list that would make this TL;DR of all the times I've watched them solve real world problems with ease that had twice as many men standing around scratching their heads. A good indication of a person's work ethic is their hands. A good working man cannot hide his contributions if he wanted to.
I've always thought the hidden 'moral' of that saying was that, as 'luck' is not a real thing (unlike good fortune) and is unreliable, that one ought to strive to become 'good' since that is something most everyone can at least work at and then count on. A sort of back-handed wisdom that might take someone a little experience to figure out in life, and so it lightly mocks the young (chronologically and/or developmentally) who still hold idealistic hopes of 'lucking out' in life. Just my take. And I love sayings like this that are thought provoking, make one question oneself, and may be viewed from several perspectives, these type phrases have real sticking power and utility in culture. But being lucky would be cool!
@Marcha I'd rather be both, frankly. And there've been times in my life when I was, and other times one or the other. And yet other times, neither...I try to avoid those times.
Idris Elba’s daughter, Isan, auditioned for her fathers film, “Beast”. Despite her pleas to her father to convince the producer to cast her, Idris did not. He let her know you need to be good enough and need to work hard enough to achieve a goal. That’s admirable. That’s how you be a parent.
@@Destinychanged Of course Idris is going to say that! Are you idiot for believeing that? of course he's going say his daughter "earned" her role. He's not going to say he just gave it to her!
Great point about nepotism. It dies with sports. Almost. A lot of Olypians have rich parents though. Becoming the best in the world takes a lot of free time. Time is expensive.
I get your point but I'm not sure it's nepotism exactly. They aren't olympians because they had rich parents, they are olympians because they developed the necessary athletic skills. I think nepotism would imply that they are not deserving of being olympians.
@@BrentMurrell no, nepotism just means they had the privilege amongst other people with similar capabilities, most sportsmen are not some superhumen at all, they are just bit above the average, plenty of those but without the possibility to train at the highest level or under best circumstances. You can see it in f1 where every past driver had his son competing in the f1, many good or even better drivers, and not poor at all, nobody in motorsports is poor, but never get further than some national series in gt or rally or similar. Same for alpine skiing, you need to grow up in resorts in the alps to have a chance, not many can do that, and yes most, not all but most olimpic level sportsmen and women come from that privilege, but rare are the ones like usain bolt, or janica kostelic or lindsey von that are a class for themselves, most of them are there just because they had the oportunity first, only some mass sports like football and some other team sports have what they claim here, basically all individual sports have their conditions that have to be met and you can be the best in the world but if you don't have the conditions nobody will ever know about you, that's just how it is, yes football players of national teams cam come from poor origins, but say field hockey already not so much, and basically none from individual sports, and those are the majority.
@@cmorris9494 they do have the predisposition true, but they also don't have many other sports developed in their countries, track and field is just nasic sports you do at school, behind the school and you don't need an infrastructure of some kind for that, did you see that some of those countries even for their olimpic norms they run on dirt and not tartan, so it's an outlier because they can't chose much and have genetic predisposition, but with such a predosposition they could thrive in many sports but they don't.
Symphony musicians are also in the same group as athletes. When they try out for an orchestra, they must play behind a curtain and their peers judge them on talent.
I wish it were the same for opera singers. When I would Audition and pay for rehearsals and pianists to prepare I felt they already knew who they were going to take, and just did auditions for the $50 per singer audition fee.
I read that in some instances, candidates walk across a carpet to the playing area, so the assessors behind the curtain cannot tell if it's a male or female musician.
This an excellent example of meritocracy, really. I've always thought that public employers (civil service) should format application forms which allow HR staff to disassemble it before forwarding to mangers. Removing names, ages, and select other information would be a leveling tool to focus on KSAs and not immutable candidate attributes (such as sex, race, or other aspects).
@@EyeSeeThruYou I had several college professors who had students put their names on the back of the exams instead of the front, and would grade them all before matching the names.
I was absolutely shook when I started paying attention to this stuff. Like EVERY single successful person I know or heard of, at the very least, had some kind of special advantage as a child. Even if their parents weren't rich, maybe they saved enough to send them to private school or some private lessons, or they ran their own business and little Johnny learned the nuances of success that way. Whatever it was, it's insanely rare to see successful people in America that haven't had a massive head start as children.
For many years I've had the belief that pro sports are a waste of resources and tend to reinforce tribal behaviors best left behind. Thank you Bill for providing a way to see sports in a constructive context.
The right kind of parents don't do that, even if they can. Traditional values mindset parameters parents of Spain. I don't know anything about that one. Kids not get into the same university as their family members because didn't have the grades, etcetera about afterwards, but do try to raise them to whereas they can themselves. I personally don't know about anyone doing that, or being a tiger Mom either. It's probably the remnants of what used to be the system, still functioning on meritocracy, no matter how much left wing hatred of that past, and the Globalists social engineering Idiocracy effects agenda that's being inserted through the corruption and Idiocracy insanity of governments nowadays. Know that Soros behind for sure. What a blind wicked idiot himself. The matter of being ignoble destructive classlessness no matter if a billionaire.
It's like that with any kind of sports. I raced mountain bikes 2018-2022, and it's exactly the same as any ball sports. We care for each other's safety, we respect each other's achievements -- especially when we're the one who got beat. As Maher suggests, in sports, there is no "faking it til you make it." If you get beat, it's because someone was better than you and they deserve your respect. What you do is walk away with the knowledge that you've still got room to improve. You train harder and come back stronger. No amount of money in the world will get you to the finish line first if you can't out-ride, out-endurance the next guy.
This segment doesn't apply to coaches. There are many subpar coaches, at least in the NFL, who only hold their position because their father was a hall of fame coach years prior.
how many young people had the resources and opportunity to get lessons and training giving them a leg up on the competition plus parents that were supportive .. isn't that a version of nepotism ..??
Yep, it’s remarkable how many celebs’ are from showbiz, especially minor league. And with sports, Lebron James son grew up in $1 billion household. That’s more training and attention than every inner-city kid in all of Chicago metro.
solid. i appreciate Bill’s acknowledgement that sports are a diversion. it’s also nice that a form of entertainment - people playing games for the benefit of spectators - can provide some examples of good humanity…merit, cooperation, role modeling, etc.
Crying is already happening in the sports industry. They keep complaining how there are hardly any blacks in baseball and hockey. Yet I don’t hear anyone complain about a lack of Asians in basketball.
It's not what you know, it's who you know, and it doesn't matter if who you know is a celebrity, as long as that person can open doors for you that would otherwise remain closed.
@Jess1919 lmao 🤣 another bench rider chimes in... Dose it happen? ABSOLUTELY, is it the standard? In which you'r dunce cap friend implies? 🤔 NOT EVEN CLOSE.. you think teams care a about a field donation if they go 0-10? Lmao tell us y'all never started without saying it haha.. 🤣 I was in foster care an played varsity football all 4 years for Lincoln high school in Stockton ca.. SJAA CHAMPS 3 OUT OF THE 4... it's always you soft bodie cry babies claiming shit like this hahaha
@@KittredgeRitter He’s about as Jewish as I am a giant panda. Last time I checked I’m not a giant panda. But why let a little thing like facts get in the way of your antisemitism? The “warriors of the white race” you say? Bubba, you’re 5’3” and 340 pounds. You’re no warrior and have no place to talk on anything related to war. 6:39
it helps sell tickets and give a marketing boost for the minor leagues/d-league, etc. but if they don't have that rare combination of skills/talent/drive it won't happen. Hollywood is different because charisma/social media influence is getting people in the door ahead of talent. That's why I prefer British films - they focus far more on skill/embodiment of the character, and less on appearance - it makes for a more interesting-looking cast - everyone's not pumped with botox/filler and breast implants - and a much better performance overall.
@@direwolf6234 helped along by the WHA and associated NHL expansion teams that greatly increased the number of available player positions. Having said that, 51-year-old Gordie still put up 41 points in 80 games during his final pro season and Mark was an excellent player in his own right, playing over 900 NHL games and collecting over 700 points during his career.
exactly, and thats the point. A lot of people in the comments saying that sport is no different to Hollywood in that there's still nepotism but the difference is, if you're not elite in your sport, you won't make it to the pros. Sure, you'll get opportunities in college/lower levels, but at pro level, your background means nothing if you're no good. So many talentless hacks make it big in hollywood/music/politics
This is why I snort with derision when I hear a rich person claim they worked hard for everything they had. Millions of people work even harder just to stay solvent. Being born wealthy is what makes the real difference.
Working hard has nothing to do with wealth. Working smart is how you make money. Hence why doctors make more money than janitors. What makes the REAL difference is how hard you study. Nothing more.
Luck definitely plays a big role in success - and I speak from experience. Everything from meeting the right people to being in the right place at the right time helps. But you're suffering from survivorship bias when you say being born wealthy is all that matters. You only see the people who succeeded (for whatever reason) but you don't see the far more numerous people who fail. Having a head start helps a lot, but that won't be nearly enough if you're talentless and lazy.
Bill is spot on about sports stars and their children. The children of legendary sportspeople rarely if ever reach the same status as their parents in the cases of those who decided to become professional athletes.
The point of nepotism is to selectively give someone the opportunity. The nepo babies of sports get that opportunity just as much as those in acting. Which still deprives someone else of that opportunity. A kid's father pays for all the equipment so he gets to pitch. He gets to pitch and pitch and pitch until finally money can't buy his spot. Meanwhile the kid who wanted to pitch is playing OF and bored out of his mind ends up quitting baseball.
@@DOGbackwardz Maybe in HS....but sports at the professional level and even at the collegiate level it all comes down to one thing......if you can play or not. Nobody plays football at Alabama, or basketball at Duke because of who their dad is
So much so that when it DOES happen, it's something truly special. I got to watch Ken Griffey and his Dad play a game in Seattle... but they are exception, not the rule.
Yeah but not out on the field because if you’re an athlete and you suck the fans don’t care who you’re parents are they’ll be calling for your removal.
My kid’s kindergarten program was shortened because they didn’t want the other students & parents feeling a way because he won most of the awards… truthfully, I was on the fence about how I felt about that but now I’m a little angry
The children of sports stars do have advantages. They don't have to get after school/summer jobs, so they have a lot more time on their hands for working out. They get sent to expensive training camps. If they need advice from an expert, they can ask their parent. Sure they have to do the work, but that work is made easier. That's an advantage.
Then on the flip side you have those kids who don't have parents in a sport & they try real hard & end up getting recognized by people, word spreads & they end up with large NIL deals when being recruited to college. Yes, the kids of sports stars have a tiny advantage, but the point that Bill made still stands. Just because they have a parent who was a star, doesn't mean they will be. Look at Micheal Jordan's sons as a perfect example.
@@charzard1000 not true, baseball is the best example. You will only be as good as the talent you play. If your poor your gona end up playing against teams below your skill set. Unless you play travel ball or American Legion your not going very far. Poor kids that do is bc they have sponsors on these very expensive youth teams.
Nepo babies are really just one aspect of a bigger picture around biases. I always remember this one episode of the cosby show where cliff is talking to the young kids that in order to get a good job you need to work hard and study, and one of the kids said that his brother told him that in order to get a job you need to know people. Cliff askes the boy if that's true why doesn't his brother have a job? and the boy tells him "Cause he don't know anybody" I switched industries about a year ago and the thing about doing something like that is I can't really rely on my old network of coworkers for opportunities so I realized I should have approached my switch differently I should have focused more on building a network in the industry I wanted to switch too instead of my resume. Now that might seem counterintuitive but put yourself in a recruiters shoes, you have all these applicants who seem amazing cause google taught them how to write a proper resume so than how do you filter? Odds are it will go to the person if any have someone already in the job advocating for them.
How do you pick one you ask....very easy. It's called MERIT. You watched the whole clip, yet you got lost in its message. It's only so far that "knowing" the right person can get you. If I'm a recruiter at any job , and I am faced with the prospect of five well-to-do candidates, I will go about it by process of elimination around merit and one or two criteria the company deems necessary for success. I'm sure that if they have a resume, they have a work history. Whichever work experience, merit and character best suits the position, that's the one that gets in. We might even get lucky and hire 3 out of the 5 based on the fact that they'll bring value to the company due to their merits. It's really not that hard. Nepotism has taken away from well deserving people and given to privileged ones in most cases. That my friend can not do, nor is it right. Merit offers the best results in every aspect of life. Even a short French guy realized this in the 17th century. This was why he was able to fight against multiple armies without being defeated. We now call him one of the greatest generals in history. His secret? To use merit in the French Army.
@@181cameron sorry my friend, i grew up in new york and beverly hills my mother and grandparents were in the industry CBS, Broadway, 20th century, etc etc ad nauseam...actors are like house painters a dime a dozen and everyone can do it, Danny Kaye once told my mother, she worked with him, if you can laugh and cry in front of people you can be an actor, but to be an accountant you need real skills.
It does matter in sports. Having access to all the connections the parent has and had. The money. Getting all the private lessons and being on the top travel teams!! It absolutely opens doors "normal" people do not have.
@@alalalala57 says who? you think coaches care about names? If they don't win, they're fired. Clout or a famous daddy doesn't win you sports games. And BTW the far far majority of NFL athletes have zero "connections"
I just commented that they replaced the WOOO! guy with a new YEAH! guy and I wonder if the WOOO! guy is ok. These mofos make this show unwatchable for me.
Nepotism definitely matters in sports. Same as "getting your foot in the door" in acting.. In athletics, pro scouts and pro level coaches go see and go help ex pro athletes kids, college and pro coaches kids, and college and pro teams administrators kids. There are thousands of VERY talented players who never got a second look at a D1 school or a pro contract because the slots were filled with nepotism babies. The kids still have to put in work. But "getting your foot in the door" is a fkin huge part of the game.
Especially college sports. I can point to two egregious examples just in my home state of Missouri: Stan Kronke was a big donor to the school at the time and his son Josh was far and away the least talented player to "make" the team, while in a case of reverse nepotism they hired the father of Michael and Jonte Porter as an assistant coach specifically to get the two players to choose to come to the school. So let's not pretend it's 100% a meritocracy.
Yea but in sports you still have to have the skill to back it up. You aren't a professional player just because your dad was. If you aren't skillful you get fired. Thats the difference.
For centuries the best chance you had to give your children a career was to teach them the trade that was passed on to them (or a trade reasonably accessible in your environment). Literally caste systems or class roles got defined out of this process. Substantial number of family names that describe jobs their families did.
Exactly. Traditionally acting has tended to be dynastic. That just a fancy word for passed down through families. Early actors travelled to work especially in Europe. They had families and the children were often put into the act at an early age. Lots of famous performers started that way, like the Marx brothers, who first went on stage with their Uncle. Or the long line of the Barrymore family, actors stretching back nearly 2 centuries.
exactly - families of doctors, attorneys, firemen, police officers, etc. that's the life they know - the language, the environment, the culture - and it connects them to their family, just like plumbers, electricians, farmers, etc. have with their kids. There's just more prestige/notoriety in Hollywood - and it's kind of a fun way to poke at them in the midst of their self-righteous grandstanding as the tell everyone else how they should live, vote, think, etc.
@@AB-ol5uz I know three siblings who are engineers whose dad was an engineer. Kids swear their career choice has nothing to do with their dad’s. lol ok
I have an extended family member who's a pilot at a major airline, who just told me he recommends NOT flying commercial anymore, because many of the new pilots they're bringing in for DEI quotas are THAT bad. Scared the hell out of me, honestly.
Really. Like the airlines are going to risk lawsuits by allowing unqualified pilots to fly. Just because airlines are looking for someone who isn't just male and white doesn't make them unqualified. Smart and talented people exist everywhere. Sometimes, you need to look outside your comfort zone. Stagnation isn't always the best policy.
OP As a conservative talking to you, The Last Jedi is a Masterpiece, tired of you Last Jedi Haters, so F OFF. If you talk about episode IX that's another thing, but not The Last Jedi that movie is PERFECT, episode VII and VIII were good, and Andor too, other things... Well... Ugh.
@veronicareitherreese6671 yes. They are. DEI initiatives are driving investment into businesses (which allow them to operate at all) which directly translates into "diversity hires" being given more preference than other, more objectively qualified, people. So yes - these companies would literally risk killing people for this. And then, when the inevitable happens, the way they'll report on the accident will conveniently never mention the qualifications (or lack thereof) of the person operating the vehicle, and you'll automatically assume that they were doing the job because they earned the right to be there. Welcome to the next step of Affirmative Action. It was a bad policy when it was implemented, it's bad policy now, and it makes literally everything worse.
"Sports are beloved because they are the only hierarchy based on real and honorable talent. One can win a business promotion based on office politics, or win a college admission based on a rich father. One can win a war through shameless evil, or win the presidency through empty promises. But to win at a sport, you must prove your worth transparently, before referees and spectators, to earn your status. Humankind is not inherently cynical. We become impassioned by legitimacy. The proof of that is sports."- George Will, 1997
Not really, raw sports ability is largely genetically driven. I would say investing and business are more meritocratic. Yes, there is always some genetic component, but in business a poor person can become wealthy without being blessed with exceptional physical genetics, just through a combination of intelligence, hard work, and conscientiousness (where some of these can compensate for deficiencies in the others). Even a somewhat dumb person can be successful in business as long as they are able to confront failure, work hard, and learn (however slowly). You can't become a pro NBA or NFL player without 99% genetic luck first.
@@offensivearch raw sports ability is largely genetically driven." This is a gross oversimplification of skill sports. Genetics does not determine your "raw sports ability" thats nonsense Im not tall so I cant play basketball. There are tons of pro nba players that are not exceptionally tall. Just like there a lot of pro sports athletes in sports their ancestors never played
@@offensivearch Genetic ability is the meaning of "talent," and everyone even remotely considered for a sports team has it. 100% of them, 100% of the time. They also come from anywhere and everywhere. Unlike business, where the vast majority of major success stories start out in the top 0.1% of incomes and have Ivy League family backgrounds; where funding for early ventures, access to talent, and government relations are guaranteed at birth to a handful and kept at arm's length to even the most talented of "commoners". The only exceptions are people who lick the boots of the rich long enough to be given a small piece of the action, or people who are exceptionally ruthless, but the latter are often prosecuted (usually tax stuff, or fraud) as sacrifices to the masses once they believe they've finally been "let into the club" and let their guard down.
Many of the athletes I've taught that went on to at least sign at a college for a team (football, basketball, baseball,... even golf)... had a parent that also was an athlete or even a coach. Yes, the kid had to do the work... but they had a parent that made sure they practiced; helped them practice... and knew the game with scouts. BUT... that is also true with many kids in many areas. An actor or singer often makes sure those kids get lessons and perform. Academic parents often expect their kids to do well in classes, tutor them... get them tutors... send them to testing workshops and it helps. It's not all about being "nepo" with these kids l. It's whether their parents took the time, money, and energy to support them. The REAL trick is doing that when your kid wants to do something else where you don't know all the tips and tricks. If being anything was just because of raw talent then you'd see more crossovers than we do. There are some... but those aren't written about. If a big time actor's kid goes into real estate; or being major player in computer coding... an officer in the military, or a lawyer we don't hear that.... though I'm sure if some study was done we would find that it happens often enough.
Not much different if you really analyze the DNC/RINO caste system, two-tier justice, in context with what is applied in India. Same demoness, she just wears nicer looking makeup.
The world has always been a 'caste' society except for past 100 years. The was always a class system in every society (Nobel, Soldiers, Free Workers and Slaves) from Rome to China.
@@marshalLannes1769 last 100 years have been different in one way, the wealthy prefer to hide and keep their heads down so that we the people don't do like the French did and fix the problem. hell look at the UK. you cannot tell me merit got a billionaire into the prime ministers seat. he bought that shit.
It's the same all over the world. India got a bad rep because we are brown people. Same thing has been followed in Europe for far longer but no one cares to bring it to notice there.
I will always think it's messed up that celebs and models are able to get fancy careers because of mommy and daddy. However, I have learned that even for us normal people it's the same thing. I know a lot of people who got fancy jobs without having any experience at all because of Mommy and Daddy. Not fair but it happens.
It's really the opposite of messed up. That's the point of being successful: to secure a better future for your kids and grandkids. It's the most natural thing there is.
The people who have set up their own for success have generally worked very hard to insure this happens and deserve the fruits of their efforts. This is the way of it. I bet if you had amassed immense wealth and influence through your talent and labor, and had beloved family, you would feel and do the same, to some extent. My terrific senior English teacher had two very good pieces of wisdom for our graduating class to remember: "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission (you'll get more done)" and "Friends, whoever told you life is FAIR?"
That's why some people make such a big deal about getting into the top schools. It's not about what you learn, it's about who you meet and form relationships with while you're there.
Sports are entertainment but there is big difference between acting and being an athlete. Any idiot can stand in front of camera. Not just anybody can be competitive in sports.
As a practicing lawyer, that finished every section of my bar exam faster than all other 500 people except for one section one day and that was the guy sitting next to me. Louisiana gave me and 4 other students from the HBCU law school I went to the WRONG SCORES, it was a massive slap in the face to see Louisiana and the rest of the nation in large part get free bar passes. And multi choice exams. Across 1 day. Instead written for 5. We all received calls 2 months later we had actually passed and by that time the bar results were published. Southern Law would have passed TULANE law in bar pass rate for my class but for the 5, miraculously all only from SULC, getting “wrong scores”. It would have been the first time the HBCU was not at the bottom, and it costs 1/4th the price of the other three in the state. I don’t know what to make of it. My counterpart and I were given scores 2 points below passing. Basically the minimum you could miss by. And then when he went to go check his test and added his point up himself, he had scored 18 more points on the very first section of the test. They asked him if he wanted to check the rest of his test and he said why would I need to? And then called me and everyone else and we all passed by who knows how much. LA Supreme Court Justice Genevieve was newly elected and asked us to send him everything we had in terms of our communication with the bar in the matter. No lawsuit ever came out of it.
@ KC Michelson I met a man from Boston years ago and he said you just don’t up and leave and head to Boston . He said it is the kind of town where the Janitor’s job is promised to somebody .
To many times when I joined the work force there were people with positions that required a college degree. Many of them had only high school diplomas because their dads was friends with the bosses. It still happens today.
@@zendakk I was merely pointing out it's not just Hollywood. I think ppl dont like it going back to the equity in opportunity argument. Or that it doesn't encourage seeking out the highest qualified ppl. Or unfair advantage etc. Its nothing new tho lol. Literally how you became king was by being the kings son when he died.
In a number of crafts, when you are in close relation to someone who is well skilled at something, they pass that knowledge onto you and you become skilled at it yourself. Its why more than a few family businesses became multi generational.
I remember when getting into Lowell high school was a big deal out here! I even went there for summer school once(I didn’t make it to Lowell 🤣) the bathroom walls were tagged with equations in there
Interesting and well said. His argument about sports not being based on nepotism is only partially true. It's generally true that the players on the pro field are the best out there (except when coaches make stupid decisions). However, nepotism does, or can, play a huge role in getting them to that point. If your last name is Montana, Brady, or some such, you're far more likely to be quarterback (or whatever position) in little league and in high school, which is how you get the experience to be good enough for college ball. Having a last name like that also means you're far more likely to be recruited for college, which gives you a chance to get ready for the pros. Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers gives some interesting examples of how success is often based on early selection.
Wrong - the kid still need to perform.. Montana's kid did get preferential treatment to some extent in H.S. and college. He never made it to the Pros though. Which is Bill's point ultimately. You're not playing professional sports just because of your last name. Period.
He is one of the few left-leaning pundits that I actually like. He at least has the decency to call certain things out for what they actually are, even if it goes against the "narrative."
Bill wanted to insert Slovenia twice, for the modelling (Melania), and then when he got to the basketball, mentioning Luka Dončić, would be just too much. Lol
OMG...so true. Here in Canada though you only get into post secondary schools, by your grades and volunteering etc. Our education system works a little different. When you see a canadian in graduate school in the states its usually because they can't get in to the schools here. They just don't make the cut. And you hear the parents complaining.
Brilliant Segment Bill! And so true! This is why I'm more of a fan of sports nowadays than cinema even tho I'm an aspiring filmmaker myself. The majority of today's movie stars are nepo babies, with very few exceptions. In movies/tv, 90% of success is luck - getting a chance, and nepo babies have an advantage here, that's a fact. Sport is based on specific physical work and specific numbers that no one gives you for free. Yes, in sports, the children of great athletes can inherit the talent and physical attributes, but that can only get you to a basic level, the rest is hard work. The best example for me is Cristiano Ronaldo - he embodies the true 'American Dream' in modern times, and he is the best example of an actual self-made billionaire. Born into poverty, the father was an Angola war veteran and an alcoholic, and his brother was addicted to drugs. Cristiano with his talent, but above all with hard work, rose to the very top of football and took his whole family out of the hole. Today, he is one of the greatest footballers in history, the most influential athlete in the world, and one of the richest. While even the biggest stars of cinema - the honest ones - admit that when you have a great director and screenwriter, that is, a great role written, acting is not the hardest thing to do at all, and that's why for me, screenwriters should be paid more than actors because the fact is, the screenplay and well-written character and story is the main reason for movie success. In sports, to reach an Olymp, you have to make unimaginable sacrifices all your life, and the body of a professional athlete playing at the top level, for example, for a decade, is completely destroyed at the end. This is the price. Reaching the top in sports requires incredible strength of character and willpower, hard physical work, and incredible mental strength. It's absolutely one of the last professions that require real hard work to get to the top. I admire and respect the best athletes so much.
I agree sports entertainment (which is very simplistic, i.e., there're clear winners/losers, mostly clear right/wrong) seems a bit more meritocratic* but see Malcolm Gladwell's take on this. There are a LOT of talented people who are never discovered since they don't have the opportunities, etc. In this sense, it's not being a "nepo baby" that's a big deal but being wealthy so that you can succeed/or fail at what you want instead of needing to get a job to support your responsibilities. Life's not fair. We can't even define what "curing cancer" means. That's how complex the disease is. That's the problem. Whenever the problem/field is simple/clear cut, where we can get yes/no answers quickly, it's easy to be simplistically meritocratic. But once things start getting complex, it is no longer clear cut. *Also the money you have AS A TEAM influences performance; look at what Steven Cohen has done with the NY Mets (or I should I say "trying to do" ). There's a correlative difference between teams with $50 million payrolls and teams with $300+ million payrolls, especially if the latter is sustained for years on end to build the best teams possible by throwing money at it. These people then push each other to excel. Of course it takes a lot to skill and hard work get there, but there's so much luck with injuries, personality, etc.
"Sports Entertainment" is what Vince McMahon started calling pro wrestling after he beat the steroids case against him and was worried the Feds were gonna take a second crack at him over wrestling being a work.
A part of it is also that there are only so many opportunities in each industry. Some might have very few. As unfair as it sounds, we can't all get the job. If you have 100 people apply, they could all be great. However, if there's only 5 jobs, 95 are going away empty handed. Maybe they'll get something elsewhere, maybe not. There may well be a lot of people that could have done something special (or at least been decent) but maybe they never got a chance to develop or even any chance at all? How many had very humble beginnings (e.g., maybe they made some embarrassing mistakes and have no idea how they didn't get fired) but someone believed in them and kept them around, and it worked out? How many had a rough start and that was it, they never got another chance and were in a one strike and you're out situation?
@@ExplodingConsole That's what Gladwell alludes to but he goes into some data and throws out interesting examples. He uses Canadian hockey players and runners. The former group is generated from an early young, and the quirk of your month of birth determines what happens in early camps which then have an impact on the rest of your career. A lot of our live is set up that, where quirks of birth and quirks of calendar can synergise or become antagonistic.
What is Malcolm Gladwell's take on this? I can't recall if he talks about the importance of being born at the right time of the year or not but that alone will make or break an athlete. Because if you have 364 days of physical and mental growth and experience (especially when young) more than your competitor, you will have an edge.
You made a great point for mandatory military service. 2 years with a group of people you don't choose can teach you how you can get things done with people who might not share 100% of your values.
Yeah, not sure about now but the military is another example of merit based advancement. Well, it was until one group decided there wasn’t enough women in combat arms and so they changed the standards.
In every country with mandatory military service, it quickly evolves into a cynic maze of loopholes so that rich people can escape it and/or use it to propel their careers, while poors are crawling in the cold mud. The only way to escape that is to have a very high civic moral. In the age of "right or wrong, my party" and "success at all cost", it does not work.
Most European countries that have conscription also have an alternative service for the pacifist and religious Falk. These kids get trained as paramedics, ambulance drivers, social workers, they work in retirement homes or fire stations and whatever.
@@mecha-sheep7674I'm not a 100 percent sold on the idea, but my friend from Switzerland told me that a slight majority of Swiss people do in fact support it, because it helps bridge the different language groups.
You really do not like Maher in term of what? His demeanor, jokes? His main takes, which are approximately "free speech is good; woke is bad; let's vote for milquetoast Democrats; I love pot and Israel"?
@@Rockownz5150 The Woke, since its not really a secret that word is a loose definition of literally everything those types dont like, from vegan menus to trans kids to gay couples in cartoons to even cknowledging that racial inequality continues to be a problem.
Although too many youths and parents spend far more time on sports in the false hope that they will become that pro player when the same effort should be put on education.
I was just thinking about this with basketball how there is no luck, it's just pure talent. And how nepotism babies have no idea how privileged they are. Because they're are in a system that is less about merrit and more about connections which is all show business is about. Well done.
There are also thousands of VERY talented players who didn't have the enormous advantage of high-quality coaching early on. Elite professionals need both "talent" (inborn) and "skill" (earned, but it's only as good as your guidance, which gives nepo babies an unearned edge).
@@wwbuirkle Who do you think are responsible for the recent bank failures? Its not the poor stupid people, its the rich stupid people. A rich idiot is far more dangerous than a poor one.
