How do you measure merit? Honest question. I don't care about DEI. Not an American either. Just the whole "meritocracy" argument seems like it's a bit problem

How do you measure merit? Honest question. I don't care about DEI. Not an American either. Just the whole "meritocracy" argument seems like it's a bit problematic. In arts merit is really problematic but even in sciences and math. A person with the "right connections" can find himself collaborating with the best scientists and in the best labs. Whereas a person with bad connections might be unable to afford the networking even if they do get a scholarship to the best school. Even in "objective" grading. Is the grade of the student who worked all night to afford school equivalent to the one who had a private tutor and all the free time to study? To be clear: I don't have the answer for this. But I don't think anyone has. It seems to me that a lot of people use this word as a cudgel rather than use a more nuanced individual distinction. Which I agree, doesn't scale well.