Have a banana, Prime Minister Trudeau

I don't know why I'm picking on Justin Trudeau, who seems no more intent on heading back to the trees than most in politics. But it was the headline that set me off: Trudeau gives Canada first cabinet with equal number of men and women: Ethnically diverse ministers include 15 men and 15 women. PM Justin Trudeau hails ‘a cabinet that looks like Canada.’ 

Come now, Mr Prime Minister, Canadians don't look like this in my experience.

     
Of course diversity of experience and opinion have value. But racial, ethnic, and gender makeup are absolutely no guarantee of intelligent analysis and decisions, any more than social station.    

Use it or lose it; the less emphasis on human intelligence, the harder it becomes to recognize intelligence. 

What is the mark of human intelligence? It's wanting to know more than wanting to be right. So intelligence rests on good character because the natural human desire to be right, when unchecked by good character, invariably prompts lying. The more one lies, the more the mind weaves a screen that blocks clear seeing.

Good character is also the talisman against guilt, which too blocks clear seeing because it creates so much fear in a person. The mind is focused on the fear not on what's in front of it. 
      
The society that understands the connection between good character and intelligence can recover from just about any misfortune because it produces genuinely intelligent children. If the understanding is lacking, children gravitate to external behaviors that give them the illusion of security. Belonging becomes so much more important than knowing, and this is where tribal and ethnic affiliations become paramount. Next thing you know we're swinging from the trees. Again.    
         
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