Meritocracy

The Scourge of Success

Think about this for a minute: Wilfred M. McClay of the University of Oklahoma decries higher education's "dysfunctional devotion to meritocracy," which he says is subverting the ideal that one's life prospects should not be substantially predictable from facts about one's family. Meritocracy, "while highly democratic in its intentions, has turned out to be colossally undemocratic in its results" because of "the steep decline of opportunity for those Americans who must live outside the magic circle of meritocratic validation." Or this, written about recently by Will: 'In "A Theory of Justice," the 20th century's most influential American treatise on political philosophy, John Rawls argued that "inequalities of birth and natural endowment are undeserved."'

Undeserved. I originally misread that as "underserved." But no. Good and bad qualities are inflicted upon an undeserving person by harsh fate. The luck of the draw is not just luck, it is a perversion of justice.

This is an astonishing step for the social homogenizers to take, apparently without criticism. What is under contention here is the nature of man. Are those distinguishing characteristics, that we so worship in diversity, evil when they become practical impairments? A bright student has an unfair advantage, a diligent one the same. But it gets worse. There is a selective process insidiously working through this system. Bright men, bright women seek each other thus perpetuating the injustice. Their children have a better chance of being bright. And their homes are more encouraging toward success than their less fortunate competitors.

If you can't improve the failures, harm the successes. No society could consider a more damaging self-inflicted wound. Years ago Vonnegut had a society where, for the sake of equality and the self-esteem of the less able audience, wonderfully talented athletic and coordinated ballet dancers had to wear weights to hamper their movements. But he was writing about esthetics and art, fields a culture can chose to ignore. The culture can not ignore the quality of its people and their production.
 

Has there ever been a more unreasonable time in history where such nonsense would be taken seriously?