Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to take issue with your description of the Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe, as a "self-made teenager" and the implication that he is somehow deserving of the millions of pounds he makes from his part-time acting career ("Harry Potter star joins the magic circle of super-rich teens").

It's apparent that you, like society in general, are unaware of just how corrupt (and corrupting) the values and attitudes are that you thus embrace and convey to your readers.

Will you allow me to point it out without taking umbrage, or dismissing me as a crackpot?

Given such an attitude, is it any wonder that millions of citizens doing ordinary but essential jobs (far more so than acting) feel grossly undervalued and dissatisfied. Is Daniel Radcliffe, as pleasant a young person as he seems to be, really already worth more than a police officer, nurse, fireman, soldier, etc will earn in a lifetime? Judging by his bank account, the answer is clearly, yes he is!

And how does it make intellectuals like yourself feel? You have an interesting and challenging job for which you get well paid and enjoy considerable social status, so I suspect that you can cope better with the injustice. Added to which, it justifies you in making as much money as possible, when the opportunity arises, since it will never be as much as the less-deserving super-rich.

Why, as a society, do we tolerate such disproportionate and unjust disparities of wealth and income? Because, like those who comprise it, society is deeply rooted in man's more animal than human nature - unsurprisingly in view of what Darwin is supposed to have taught us about human origins. We are Earth's Greatest Ape, using our phenomenal brainpower and intelligence, not just to put men on the Moon and produce great works of literature and art, but also to rationalise and justify the continuing pursuit and indulgence of our animal nature, when the time has come for us to move on.

If we want our civilisation, perhaps even our species, to survive this new Century, we have to transcend our animal nature and place our phenomenal powers of intellect in the service of our more enlightened, human nature. It will involve changing many of the values, attitudes and aspirations upon which our growth-dependent economy and grossly materialistic lifestyles are based. For example, we need not just a "minimum wage", but a "maximum wage" as well.

I can hear your screams of laughter and ridicule from here (10 miles NE of Canary Wharf), but recognise them as those of apes rather than humans . . .

 

 

Roger Hicks

www.spaceship-earth.org