Leadership Quote by John McCarthy

McCarthy’s line turns Darwin on his head to describe a political pathology: when an institution is sick, merit becomes a liability. “Survival of the unfittest” lands because it’s both a joke and an accusation. It suggests not merely incompetence at the top, but a system that actively rewards the traits most compatible with decay: obedience over expertise, brand management over problem-solving, risk aversion over judgment.

The intent is surgical. By framing decline as an ecosystem, McCarthy implies that rot is self-reinforcing. In healthy organizations, ability creates leverage; in failing ones, ability creates threat. Competent actors introduce comparisons, demand standards, and expose uncomfortable data. The “unfittest” survive because they don’t challenge the internal story the institution tells itself to keep functioning - or pretending to. They are easy to promote, easy to control, and, crucially, easy to blame when results collapse.

There’s also a strategic subtext aimed at public accountability. If failure is selection, not accident, then reform can’t be limited to swapping personalities. It requires changing incentives, information flows, and punishment mechanisms. McCarthy’s politician’s edge shows in the phrasing: it’s memorable enough to circulate, cynical enough to feel true, and broad enough to indict bureaucracies, parties, legislatures, or any organization insulated from consequences.

The context it gestures toward is familiar: late-stage institutions protecting their hierarchy by filtering out dissent and competence. In that world, the unfit aren’t anomalies. They’re the institution’s immune system, misfiring to defend the disease.