Secret Views

Things we might whisper to each other

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

Don’t tell anyone, but I have a couple of secret views. Do you have any? Any views you’ve never discussed with anyone, except your nearest and dearest? Or maybe a therapist or clergyman?

I have long suspected that I ought to be a vegetarian (on ethical grounds, not health grounds). I’ve had this suspicion since I was a child. I’ve discussed it with some friends and acquaintances—those of a philosophical or theological bent.

Oh, I’ll never act on it, this suspicion of mine. I’m too lazy, and too good a rationalizer. Also too fond of a cheeseburger. Still ...

I know all the views against—against vegetarianism. “It’s bad for your body.” “Man is naturally carnivorous.” “Jesus multiplied ‘fishes,’ as well as loaves.” I know, I know.

Still, the suspicion gnaws at me (even as I gnaw on a lamb bone).

Okay, that was nothing—hold on to your socks for this one: I think “merit” is kind of a crock. Now, don’t get me wrong: I think hiring, admitting, etc., ought to be done on merit (although I feel like putting “merit” in quotation marks). I don’t think that Princeton should admit dopes to the freshman class, just ’cause.

But one of the luckiest strokes in all the world is—to be born with a high IQ. If you have one, congratulations. But it is hardly a matter of earning or meriting. Same goes for musical talent, athletic talent, and so on.

Good looks!

Right now, I’m surrounded by some of the most talented people in the world—musically and artistically talented. (I’m doing my annual jobs at the Salzburg Festival.) “Oh, but they work hard!” you might say.

Yeah, well: some do, some don’t. (And so what, in either case?)

Over the years, people have been kind enough to say to me, “You work so hard.” Um, okay—but, frankly, sometimes a person works hard in the absence of something better to do. Also—I don’t mean to shock you—I like to show off.

“What about the Parable of the Talents? You have to cultivate your talents, not leave them buried!” Yeah, yeah. I believe in that wholeheartedly. Still, to have talents in the first place ...

(I have just reviewed a book that argues that Tiger Woods has underachieved. I agree.)

Again, don’t get me wrong: I’m Joe Merit. I spend my nights as a music critic, and often say, or imply, that Conductor X does not deserve the podium he occupies. In my political journalism, I often say that Politician Y does not deserve the office he occupies.

I’m not anti-merit. I just think we ought to be realistic on the subject—on what merit is.

I have heard people call for “merit” in the American immigration process. “It has to be done on merit,” they say, with an air of certainty, righteousness, and indignation. Some of these people, I know the ancestry of.

What merit did those immigrants have? Were they doctors, engineers, or oboists? No, they were ordinary people—wretched refuse, who stank to high heaven. They were unlettered. Their religion was laughed at and feared. But they wanted a better life for themselves and their family, and they sacrificed everything to achieve it.

That was their “merit,” if you will.

Now, it sounds like I am making a statement on immigration policy. I am not. We can discuss that another time (and we have). I am making a statement about merit.

In any event: What are your secret views? Do you have any? If so, and you want to spill them, write them in the comments. Or, if you want to e-mail your secrets to me, the address is mail@jaynordlinger.com. I will publish a selection of views, a selection of “secrets.” You can remain anonymous or not. Lemme know.

A related question: Do you have any political views that depart from your general political views? That depart from your “body” of views? I’m talking about explicit politics, as opposed to, say, vegetarianism (or even merit). If you’re a conservative, are you “left” on an issue or two? If you’re a liberal, are you “right”?

I suppose my own views are down-the-line conservative—as we understood conservatism before 2016. I am against capital punishment, basically. And that was once heterodox on the right. But I don’t think it has been so in a long while.

(I know a woman, an academic, who says about capital punishment: “I’m against it in theory but for it in practice.” I think a lot of people can sympathize with that.)

Let me give you a WFB story—a story about William F. Buckley Jr. He once said to me, “I’m a closet Georgist.” This was when my wife and I were looking for an apartment in New York. (WFB was referring to the economic ideas of Henry George, a 19th-century American thinker.)

Another thing I might mention: Years back, I was too skeptical of climate change, I now think. I mean, too skeptical of claims of global warming. I think I can be forgiven, however. At a minimum, I have excuses to make.

I had grown up with a variety of environmental alarums. Chicken Littles were all over the place—and they contradicted one another. “Too cold!” “Too hot!” Also, the global-warming activists were demanding policy changes that they would have favored anyway—that they would have favored in perfect climatic conditions.

There’s a lot more to say about our environmental drama—but that is not what this little article today is for. What are your secret views? Disclose them, if you want—and all the best.