‘The Mirror’ is wrong to attack Boris Johnson’s speech to the Centre for Policy Studies
The Mirror is a left-wing paper so some would say their latest attack on Boris Johnson was inevitable, but this time they are utterly wrong.
In a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies, the Mayor of London stated that he doesn’t “believe that economic equality is possible” and that greed and snobbery are a “valuable spur to economic activity”.
He also suggested “we should fete [the super-rich] and decorate them and inaugurate a new class of tax hero, with automatic knighthoods for the top ten per cent” and commented:
“It seems to me therefore that though it would be wrong to persecute the rich, and madness to try and stifle wealth creation, and futile to try to stamp out inequality”.
Naturally, these remarks will always anger the likes of The Mirror because they still view a tax and spend economy to be our only way forward. In comparing the speech to what they describe as “Gordon Gekko’s ‘Greed is Good’ tirade”, the paper instead just shows itself to be out of touch. Gekko’s exact words were as follows:
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.”
The moneyed classes, indeed, are not the problem. The real issue in today’s society is the envy, hatred and resentment towards them for working and spending hard. Yes, of course, disparity in this country exists and yes, of course, parts of this country are suffering but The Mirror would, in fact, do well to instead embrace Boris Johnson’s words:
“We may not have many gunboats any more, but we hardly need them, because we are already fulfilling our destiny as the soft power capital of the world – and that is thanks to a woman [Margaret Thatcher] who knew all about soft power and the deep Freudian terror that every man has for the inner recesses of a handbag. It was her fundamentally positive and can-do vision that turned this country around and that we should remember today”.
Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:
Piers Morgan has shown a long-standing pattern of grandiosity, a seeming fundamental need for admiration (or at least attention) with what appears to be a total lack of empathy toward others. He has also often demonstrated a disdainful or patronising attitude toward others, such as publicly mocking those more well-liked, or banning people from his show who are more famous than him. This is almost a textbook description of narcissistic personality disorder. Other symptoms include being exploitative of others, and demonstrating envy towards others. They could basically put Morgan’s picture next to this disorder in textbooks and have done with.
However, in defence of Morgan, this description could likely be applied to any number of high-profile media personalities, columnists or people with a Facebook/Twitter account. Obviously, we only see the public persona of Piers Morgan, and he’s far from alone in the world he inhabits, so there are likely mitigating circumstances.
Dean Burnett writes in the “Guardian Newspaper” that Piers Morgan presents with a combination of clinical signs and symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Psychopathy. He sums up the typical Mirror reporter in a nutshell. They are not only out of touch with reality, they are bonkers.
Johnson is just such a fraud. I will never forget his conversation with his criminal friend, Darius Guppy.
He seemed actively interested in assisting Guppy beat up a journalist.
Johnson has contributed zilch to the economy. He has created not one job, unless you count those we, as taxpayers, fund at the GLA.
Johnson ghastly pastiche of the upper class Englishman is just so embarrassing…but then being a Turk it’s a struggle for him to be authentic in that, or anything else.
Greed has not helped this country in any way: in fact, it is greed that has led to the collapse of much of the banking and allied financial services industries.
I have worked in British industry for many years. Those who run industry are not generally greedy: it’s the leeches like bankers and brokers who stand guilty of greed.
Peter, are you sure that Boris is a Turk? I am completely gob smacked, I was convinced he was a pukka Englishman. He must have taken a leaf out of the Carry On Legend Sidney James’s book. Sidney James was a South African who perfected the cockney accent for acting purposes. I take my hat off to Boris Johnson he has done well in this specific aspect.
Could not agree more – envy, increasingly promoted in public discussion as a righteous sentiment, is really a threat to the society. Today, we are encouraged to hate the rich. We are told that it is ‘morally repugnant’ to minimize one’s tax bill. That the rich should pay ‘their fair share’, somehow meaning that they should pay for everything and everyone. Tomorrow, once we taxed and shamed the rich into oblivion, we will be told to ostracize the merely comfortably off. And after them, who will it be? Where will this stop? Will it only stop when every person will give their every material possession to the state to squander inefficiently and irresponsibly and every minute of their time to ‘charity’?
I say the poor should pay their fair share. They cost the society the most, they should pay the most. The rich and successful should be celebrated as examples of what is possible for everyone to achieve. They should be models, encouraging ambition and achievement, so that the society can achieve new heights of civilization.
Well done, Boris, for drawing attention to this poisonous tendency of the inferior to wallow in their inferiority and attempt to make it the acceptable norm by ganging up to obliterate the superior.
This chap Nikitsch is Russian so his idea of greed being good doubtless revolves around his fellow countryman’s predilection for thieving the resources of ordinary Russians.
Can’t quite understand his point about ‘envy being promoted in public discussion as a righteous sentiment’….what on earth can he mean?
But the hilarious thing is to go his website http://www.carfax-consultants.com/team-carfax.html
One sees that his fellow directors all hang an ‘esqre’, after their name, which is about as vulgar and ignorant as appending ‘Genleman’ at the end of one’s name. And they describe themselves as ‘educational consultants’!
Fawning to his clients this ugly and pretentious Russian implies is good, “so that the society can achieve new heights of civilization”….you mean, as displayed by your Russian compatriots who we have to endure in this country?
Alexander Nikitisch unashamedly embraces and strengthens the new stereotype of Russians as ostentatious big spenders in the imaginations of the British people. Although, I agree that we should celebrate high achievers, he is going way over the top. Nikitich’s theatrical overdone statement will undoubtedly embarrass hardworking Russian middle-class families living in Britain.
Nikitich’s self-deluded arrogance should guarantee him a cameo role in up and coming episodes of “Meet the Russians” on Fox Television (UK)