The Bible and Meritocratic Society
From the Reader’s Digest March 2008
The word “talent” has a fascinating financial origin. Talent was the name of a coin in ancient times and those who had a lot of talent, or money, then - just as it is now - were indeed the ones who saved and invested gainfully.* Before making a long journey, the Bible says, a rich man called three of his servants and “unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one.”
He, that received the five talents went and traded with the same, and gained another five talents. And likewise, he that had received two, also gained another two. But he, that had received one, went and dug the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
After a long time the master of those three men returned, and reckoned with them. He that had received five talents came and showed another five talents, saying, “My lord, you delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained five talents more.”
The master said unto him, “Well done… I will make thee ruler over many things.” The master was also pleased with the man who had doubled his two talents. “Well done… I will make thee too ruler of many things.” These two men would now lead a more joyous life. They were talented!
Then the man who had received the one talent came to his master and said, “Lord, I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth: here take what is yours.” The master answered and told him, “You wicked and slothful servant… you ought to have put my money to the exchangers and at my return I should have received it with interest.”
Obviously, this man had no talent. “Take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which had ten talents,” the master then ordered. “And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.”
* Footnote: A talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a labourer.
Reminscing old times
Filed under: friends, school | Tags: ar rahul, friends, prakash, school, soumya bhatt
Comments(4) 
AR Rahul and Soumya Bhatt. My old friends from school.
Left is always right
Filed under: economics, economy, government, law | Tags: economics, government, ideology, law, left, right
Comments(3) Arnold Kling on Econlib.org
Left is always right. The Left’s working hypothesis is that good government would solve all of our problems. The hypothesis is non-falsifiable. The statement “If we had good government, then X” is always going to be true.
On Len Kaneworthy’s observation,
“The most striking of the report’s findings is how little of the federal government’s mobility expenditure goes to those with low incomes. This chart shows the estimated amounts that go to lower-income households (bottom two quintiles of the income distribution) versus middle-and-upper-income households (top three quintiles). In total, only about a quarter goes to the former group.”
Troy Camplin said: This is the same thing that happens when people argue that the only reason Communism has failed each and every time it’s been tried is because “the right people” haven’t tried it. Of course, they always imagine themselves as the right people.
Beautiful. 
China has dogs on steroids…
Filed under: anirudh, china, humor, international, world | Tags: china, humor, dogs, steroids, facebook, pictures, activism, animal rights
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Image leaked by an animal right activist. Taken at a discreet location near Lanzhou county.
Animal Rights activists have come together to protest against gratuitous steroid drug testing on dogs and other animals in the People’s Republic of China. Public officials have strongly denied any knowledge of such events, and have warned against rumor-mongering on the internet.
However, Animal Rights Watch, an organisation dedicated to the cause of protection of rights of animals have called their bluff.
“The government is plotting world domination! They are sponsoring clandestine research to produce chimaeras on a mass scale.” said the activist organisation in the missives released publicly earlier this day.
OK, not really.
China recruits coach for Cricket team
Filed under: china, cricket, international, news, world | Tags: china, cricket, coach, news, international, global, asian games, guangzhou
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Image credit: © smh.com.au
The Chinese have recruited a former Pakistan Test player as coach for 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.[1] Rashid Khan, who has been coaching China’s junior and women’s teams since 2006, has now been appointed as a coach for the games.
Cricket would be played for the first time in 2010 Asian Games. The decision to approve a proposal to include cricket was taken at the Olympic Council of Asia’s General Assembly in Kuwait on 17th April 2007.
The Chinese Cricket Association sought help from the Asian Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board to provide them with coaching expertise.
The Asian cricket powerhouses, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have been the driving force behind the inclusion of this game in the tournament. Cricket is a religion among the millions of fans in the subcontinent. It has been also reported that less-experienced teams such as Hong Kong would be invited to participate in the inaugural tournament. This decision would also boost the Chinese Cricket Association which has boldly stated its ambition of becoming a force in One Day Cricket by 2019.
The chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council, Syed Ashraful Huq, has been optimistic about the prospects of cricket being included in the Olympic Games.
“China’s standing as the world’s leading sporting nation can play a major role in influencing future Olympic rosters. A major nation like China playing the game could help it qualify as a truly global sport.”
