(Not trying to start a flame war). There's a strain of left-wing thought (of course not ALL left-wing thinking) that accepts economic prosperity as unconnected to competence.
Something that's just there in larger or smaller amounts, like the weather.
To these people, standards is just another word for gatekeeping. In this frame of mind, something like communism actually makes sense - the prosperity is there by default, and those at the top get most of it, so why not put everyone on the same rung of society.
There's another school of thought a step closer to the centre which holds that competence exists, but has no innate component and is purely environmental. This leads to the conclusion that if you put everyone in the same environment, you'll get the same outcomes.
Something that's just there in larger or smaller amounts, like the weather.
To these people, standards is just another word for gatekeeping. In this frame of mind, something like communism actually makes sense - the prosperity is there by default, and those at the top get most of it, so why not put everyone on the same rung of society.
There's another school of thought a step closer to the centre which holds that competence exists, but has no innate component and is purely environmental. This leads to the conclusion that if you put everyone in the same environment, you'll get the same outcomes.