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You're really opening a can of worms... Of course meritocracy is not unfair. And of course it is the best system. But there is a very strong, powerful group
by stray 11y ago
You're really opening a can of worms...
Of course meritocracy is not unfair. And of course it is the best system.
But there is a very strong, powerful group of people who judge fairness not in terms of opportunity -- but in terms of outcome.
Such people cannot accept that the gender/race/etc identities of those who produce the most meritorious work may not match their idea of a fair outcome -- therefore, the game must be rigged.
That if the winners aren't acceptably diverse -- it can only be because of the invisible hand of multiple systems of oppression.
You correctly believe that a person's work should be judged purely on merit with no consideration of the attributes of the person who created it.
The zeitgeist believes that the only things that matter are the attributes of the person -- and that there must always be equal outcomes for every category they can divide people into -- regardless of the content of their character or the value of their works.
I personally believe we should do everything we possibly can to ensure some baseline level of opportunity to everybody -- and accept that what people do with that opportunity is up to them.
- johnvic 11y agoI'm half Latino and half African, through the years people like me was kept outside of opportunities because no matter how good you were at something you were not "white" and therefore you couldn't get in. The same system but in reverse is still the same system and that is the last thing I want because how do I know its not going to reverse to those old days when people like me couldn't move up in life because I was born the wrong color?
- cauterized 11y agoConversely, there is a large group of people who judge merit only in terms of outcome, without taking into account that two people of equal merit may have unequal outcomes due to unequal opportunity (or the person with greater merit at even have a lesser outcome).
- johnvic 11y agoI agree but you will never be able to have a perfectly level field, I had friends whose parents were already in IT and thus learned to program years before I did which gave them a substantial advantage, but how do you solve that?.
- cauterized 11y agoI mean more that you can't judge someone's merit based solely or even primarily on where they end up in life.
- stray 11y agoI think you're confusing the merit of someone's work with where they end up in life. Mr Rogers was afaik, never wealthy at all - yet his works have great merit.