Volkmar Weiss

IQ Means Inequality Volkmar Weiss

The exploitation of fossil fuels such as coal, oil or natural gas enabled the emergence of today's global industrial society. Cheap energy has led to an unprecedented increase in population to this day. Nevertheless, the democratic society of the West, which produced the welfare state, is in the process of destroying itself again. One reason for this is that the parties fighting for majorities are outdoing each other in promises. The actual reasons for this self-destruction, however, lie deeper: while in the ascendant phase of Western societies entrepreneurial forces did predominat, since about 1970 the striving for equality dominats the public debate. Today, not only are inherited differences in intelligence denied, but false incentives discourage the high-performing and encourage the low-performing. As a result, industrial societies are often no longer able to provide a sufficient number of highly qualified young people. At the same time, the cost of energy, the indispensable fuel of industrial society, is rising. In many places there is a lack of creative potential to counteract the emerging chaotic conditions. All these developments, so the central thesis of this book, must be seen in the context of their interactions: they are the expression of a lawful regulatory cycle that drives industrial society into a permanent crisis, which is accelerating intermittently and inexorably.