Meritocracy
4 responses to “Meritocracy”
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Merit simply means deserve. Merit can be good or bad. It depends on the society. A wolf becomes the pack leader by overcoming the current pack leader. A king may inherit his crown. A president may be chosen by constituents. A mafia lord…..well, that one’s complicated. Merit used in a society can be anything that the society chooses. It doesn’t have to be virtuous. Even in a society where merit (chosen by that society) is valued, undeserving individuals might gain power and control by unmerited means. The meritocracy is then in jeopardy because the undeserving has what he didn’t earn according to the society’s standards. Merit is untouchable. It exists, or it doesn’t. Proofs of merit might be action or medal or bloodline.
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“Deserve” is a loaded word nowadays. I’m not saying that’s an incorrect assessment of ACTUAL merit at all, but I have heard it be said that every human born “deserves” to be fed, housed, and afforded medical services just because. And the word “deserve”, as used there, is attached to no merit whatsoever.
We could hash out the idea of merit being whatever society says it is…bloodline, for instance seems rather arbitrary. But it does lend credence to the idea that being born is enough merit to deserve basic necessities whether earned or not. I mean, if people can acquire whole kingdoms just by the accident of birth, why not a basic income? But then who’s going to provide all the means? And what do the providers deserve? Surely they have more merit than the mere consumers? Very heady ideas…
I hope in future episodes to address the thoughtful comments we have the pleasure to receive…just have to work out the format. Thanks for thinking with us! –Vox
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You aren’t describing merits or meritocracy, you are describing your backwards paradigm of what constitutes ‘position’. There is a huge difference. Using your thinking or definition, someone could be a child-sacrificing pedophile thief, without having any virtues but have merit. By whom or by what metrics or laws or whatever do Saïd people have merit? So, how does bloodline or DNA constitute merit in and of itself? What about Julius Caesar, did he have merit due to his bloodline alone, and then what?
No offense, but your paradigm isn’t Godly, it’s degenerate and servile.
Regards’
Samuel -
“Every king springs from a race of slaves, and every slave has had kings among his ancestors. The flight of time, with its vicissitudes, has jumbled all such things together, and Fortune has turned them upside down. Then who is well-born? He who is by nature well fitted for virtue.” ~ Plato
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