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The problem is meritocracy. The only reason this is a charged political issue is that we have a system where money and power flow to the "best and brightest".
by s17n 4y ago
The problem is meritocracy. The only reason this is a charged political issue is that we have a system where money and power flow to the "best and brightest". This is a bad way to organize a society (smart people aren't actually better at running things) and has the side effect of putting a ton of pressure on the education system.
The solution is less meritocracy, more democracy.
- dnissley 4y ago> smart people aren't actually better at running things Could you expand on this? It seems almost to fly in the face of the very definition of "smart"
- TheCoelacanth 4y agoThe hard part of governance usually isn't figuring out how to do it, it's deciding whose interests you are going to serve.
- QuarterReptile 4y agoThis flies in the face of all my experience in management. Organizing people is mostly an exhausting grind. Maybe not hard work much of the time, but a lot of work, definitely.
- pharmakom 4y agoWeird definition of meritocracy. To me it means that wealth and power flows to best person for the job. This creates incentive for people to do what they are best at (in Pareto efficient sense). Governments job is to ensure fair play and a minimum quality of life for all
- QuarterReptile 4y ago>we have a system where money and power flow to the "best and brightest". Yes, this is called autonomy. It's the basis of evolution, scientific inquiry, every concept underpinning democracy and freedom, technological progress, decreased infant and all-cause mortality, reduced poverty/starvation/privation/exploitation, and even the very idea that it's worth understanding or investigating anything at all.
- s17n 4y agoAll the good stuff you're talking about was a result of the Enlightenment, which didn't happen in a meritocratic society, it happened in semi-aristocratic society which had extremely powerful concepts of social class. Even 70 years ago in America, "gifted and talented" programs in education weren't so controversial because success in school wasn't as important - eg an Asian person wasn't going to become the CEO of a major corporation regardless of their grades. Obviously, I'm not suggesting that we should return to that world, but meritocracy is also bad. The solution is egalitarianism and democracy.
- QuarterReptile 4y agoThe good stuff I listed far exceeds the scope of the enlightenment, having happened for long before the enlightenment started. Meritocracy certainly has negative consequences, as do all systems, including egalitarianism and democracy. Putting full faith in any of these systems is a reliable road to evil.