The principle of meritocracy is not an ethical program to reward the most meritorious (and hence deserving) people. The 17th-century liberal conception of merit

The principle of meritocracy is not an ethical program to reward the most meritorious (and hence deserving) people. The 17th-century liberal conception of meritocracy is to assign the most capable people to positions where they can have the most effect - as opposed to the ancien regime system where administrative duties were allocated on a hereditary basis. So I don't think "merit" in this sense is totally subjective - it's just a representation of our best estimate of who can do the best job in any given function.