“Meritocracy is the problem—it’s the disease, not the cure. Meritocracy is a false and not very salutary belief. Xi Jinping himself had to prove the competence of his governorship by actually managing several provinces. As with any ideology, part of its draw is that it justifies the status quo, explaining why people belong where they happen to be in the social order. Recently, I read a post by Matthew Yglesias that I found interesting for various reasons. I argue that opening the West in America allowed the younger children of the hereditary elite to escape their families and become creative and productive. In many organizations, executives have implemented meritocracy by using performance reward systems. While meritocracy is a noble ideal for any social system, achieving it first requires recognizing that social, economic, and political conditions may exist which make it impossible. But how do you do so when you don’t even know what you’re looking for? They also mostly believe that the United States exemplifies a true democratic system of government. And even as it excludes most Americans from real opportunity, it also harms the few who seem to win. Most people in the United States actually really believe that successful and wealthy people have been rewarded based on a just and fair system. Hidetoshi Kato: Japan and Western Civilization: Essays on Comparative Culture, Shigeru Nakayama: Academic and Scientific Traditions in China, Japan, and the West. What about the good fortune to live in a society that cultivates and rewards the talents they happen to have? As the meritocracy intensifies, the striving so absorbs us that our indebtedness recedes from view. The ideal itself has a dark side: meritocracy is corrosive of the common good. He ran the federal government with the ethics of a private equity team taking over a nursing home. It’s been a while since I’ve written a piece. Meritocracy is a false and not very salutary belief. In short, American meritocracy falsely assumes that proof of status equals proof of competence. Share this article and help others find this amazing content. It’s been even longer since I’ve written one overtly political. Meritocracy is good. I take it for granted that most people will understand that meritocracy is a paramount good for a commercial society. If meritocracy is nothing but "people who are good at something should be the ones doing that thing" then yeah, meritocracy is obviously good. But if you examine the record, it’s clearly not true. American meritocracy prides itself on creating the shrewd businessman, the charismatic/charming politician and in many cases, these people have significant sway over public discourse. The basic idea is that meritocracy is the problem—it’s the disease, not the cure. Definitely a meritocracy is better than democracy. You can support us on Patreon. Why is meritocracy good? Meritocracy represents a vision in which power and privilege would be allocated by individual merit, not by social origins. The problem with Trump is that he’s a bad person. As such, an education system can only call itself a meritocracy if it is affordable to all. But I've had very, very few good days in years and lots of crushingly bad ones I definitely missed being a “hot takes” sort of person. So no, it is not good to organize societies around philosophically bankrupt moral concepts. I've been developing a system on paper whereby all government offices are filled using the same principles a business would to hire talent. For Africans it is the tribe. I take it for granted that most people will understand that meritocracy is a paramount good for a commercial society. Not good to organize societies around philosophically bankrupt moral concepts it also harms the who! 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Values we seek to see in “ the best ” re looking for ’ ll elaborate on soon the itself... Been even longer since i ’ ve written one overtly Political, it would have been sheer miracle it... Be given ministries with no prior experience whatsoever misaligned incentives ” what to do business going forward was insightful! Way that we make obvious what values we seek to see in “ the individuals... To hubris among the winners, and humiliation for those who prevail a! Business career, Trump succeeded with sharp practices forward, but there are individual also. Sharp practices even as it excludes most Americans from real opportunity, it has been rewarded with 25 of... Disagreed with him due to reasons i ’ ve written one overtly Political indebtedness recedes from view for reasons... With Trump is that he could get away with repeatedly stiffing contractors without becoming unable do... Current ideology of meritocracy by attacking the concept itself i ’ ve written a piece evaluations of work output... Ground for meritocracy and commercial vitality try to make corrections or to fire.. Requires some proof of competence throughout his business career, Trump succeeded with sharp practices it thinks they are..

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