There Is Only 1 Way the Privileged Believe in Survival of the Fittest

Matt Ridley studied Zoology at Oxford University, got a first-class honours degree, and has written several books about the environment and economics.

When he was a British journalist, he wrote several books on science, the environment and economics. Matt Ridley has many awards and titles, including three honorary degrees. He also publishes a blog.

For years, Ridley has argued fervently for the survival of the fittest in all aspects of life, and especially in business and government.

He believes the weak should be allowed to fail, and the strong allowed to win. In his 2006 blog, 'What is your dangerous idea,' he writes:

"The more we limit the growth of government, the better off we will all be.

He believes there has been too much government. Government stifles prosperity. We need the free exchange of goods and ideas to produce efficiencies in society. It is this that has given us health, wealth and wisdom on a scale unimagined by our ancestors.

He believes it raises material standards of living, fuels social integration, fairness, and charity. According to him, it has never failed yet. No society has grown poorer or more unequal through trade, exchange and invention.

"Sometimes, they say we need it to protect the weak, the victims of technological change or trade flows. But throughout history such intervention, though well-meant, has usually proved misguided."

The Irony

In 1994, Matt Ridley joined the board of the UK bank Northern Rock where his father had been a board member for 30 years. For all his accomplishments, it is doubtful they'd offer him this position without his father's influence. How many journalists slip into the highest echelons of a bank?

In 2004, Matt Ridley became chairman of Northern Rock.

In September 2007, Northern Rock was the first bank since 1878 to suffer a run on its finances. This was the start of the financial crisis. Northern Rock was the first financial domino to fall in the credit crunch.

Northern Rock didn't fall to the natural order of things - as espoused by its chairman. Up stepped the government. Without asking, it dipped into the pockets of every UK taxpayer and bailed out the bank.

The gambling debts of Northern Rock, under the chairmanship of Matt Ridley, were wiped clean and the government nationalised the bank.

If you owned £1,000 in shares of Northern Rock, you could cash them and buy yourself a coffee - nothing more, that was all they were worth.

Matt Ridley resigned, but he didn't fade away into obscurity.

Failing Is Okay - If Your Dad Succeeded

In 2012, on the death of his father, Matt Ridley became Viscount Matt Ridley. He is now a member of the House of Lords, a Conservative hereditary peer.

His entitlement has nothing to do with merit or survival of the fittest. His position is all to do with elitism, government influence and a system designed to keep the hereditary nonsense that limits those worthy of it from positions of power.

According to Matt Ridley's writings, we should allow the natural order of things to happen. We should reduce government bureaucracy, ease trade and invention - yet Matt Ridley supported Brexit and the additional controls and interventions of government on cross border trade with our nearest neighbours.

If we believe Matt Ridley's extensive writing on the subject, Northern Rock should have been left to fail. And those who engineered its failure (him) should be left to scramble back up the shit heap they created. 

Instead, Matt Ridley walked away unscathed. The shareholders, those who entrusted the bank with their money and the British taxpayers lost out.

According to Matt Ridley, if his survival of the fittest works, then we should dispense with hereditary titles and the nepotism that goes with them. They need to be abolished. But his particular brand of survival of the fittest apparently doesn't apply to him.