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This is a red herring! I can believe the argument of hereditary meritocracy for an academic middle class, where children grow up in houses with books in them,

by _0ffh 12y ago

This is a red herring! I can believe the argument of hereditary meritocracy for an academic middle class, where children grow up in houses with books in them, rather than 24/7 TV, and parents who are able and willing to help their kids when they struggle with their school work. But it does most definitely NOT apply like this for the "elite" - that is when you get a cushy, highly paid job where you can virtually do no wrong because you studied at the right university, visit the right clubs and (therefore) know the right people. And that is only until you come into your inheritance, when your "work" will consist of raking in the huge rent you are receiving because you are rich already.

tormeh 12y ago
So much this. That merit is hereditary is a problem, but merit was never that important anyway. The thing that really drives me up the wall, though, is popular culture's insistence on hard work as the key to success, when really the most common way to success is various variants of interest(investment returns etc)
nhaehnle 12y ago
In fairness, it's a bit of both. The position of parents on the income scale vs. the position of children on the income scale is (too) highly correlated all across the income scale. The mechanisms for this correlations are different ones at different points of the scale, as you say, and certainly the very top is the part that needs the most fixing.
jeffreyrogers 12y ago
> that is when you get a cushy, highly paid job where you can virtually do no wrong because you studied at the right university, visit the right clubs and (therefore) know the right people While it's du jour to criticize the wealthy for the occupations they choose, I take issue with the idea that the jobs are "cushy" and ones in which you "can do no wrong". It's certainly true that going to the right university and knowing the right people gets your foot in the door, but for the most part the people who get these high paying jobs are immensely qualified. And the jobs they are doing are in fact challenging and you will be fired for underperformance. I've been going through the interviewing process at one of these universities and while on the whole I'm not impressed with the quality of the students here compared with e.g. my high school (and I think there is a lot of smugness and false sense of superiority among many of my peers for presumably being smarter/better than everyone at a "lesser" school), I am, however, very impressed with the students I've met in the final rounds of the interview process for some of the top tier banks and other financial firms. They are among the most intelligent and well rounded of those I've met in school.

by _0ffh 12y ago

tormeh 12y ago

So much this. That merit is hereditary is a problem, but merit was never that important anyway. The thing that really drives me up the wall, though, is popular culture's insistence on hard work as the key to success, when really the most common way to success is various variants of interest(investment returns etc)

nhaehnle 12y ago

In fairness, it's a bit of both. The position of parents on the income scale vs. the position of children on the income scale is (too) highly correlated all across the income scale. The mechanisms for this correlations are different ones at different points of the scale, as you say, and certainly the very top is the part that needs the most fixing.

jeffreyrogers 12y ago

> that is when you get a cushy, highly paid job where you can virtually do no wrong because you studied at the right university, visit the right clubs and (therefore) know the right people While it's du jour to criticize the wealthy for the occupations they choose, I take issue with the idea that the jobs are "cushy" and ones in which you "can do no wrong". It's certainly true that going to the right university and knowing the right people gets your foot in the door, but for the most part the people who get these high paying jobs are immensely qualified. And the jobs they are doing are in fact challenging and you will be fired for underperformance. I've been going through the interviewing process at one of these universities and while on the whole I'm not impressed with the quality of the students here compared with e.g. my high school (and I think there is a lot of smugness and false sense of superiority among many of my peers for presumably being smarter/better than everyone at a "lesser" school), I am, however, very impressed with the students I've met in the final rounds of the interview process for some of the top tier banks and other financial firms. They are among the most intelligent and well rounded of those I've met in school.