ON THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY

MERITOCRACY  IS  SOCIAL  DARWINISM in DISGUISE

 

That is, the ideology of meritocracy is a form of Social Darwinism: life is a competitive struggle in which some naturally win and some lose. The cream rises to the top while the dross, the slag, the less able, the inferior, the shiftless and lazy sink to the bottom. This is natural and just, the way things have always been and always must be. The winners have “earned” their elevated rights and privileges, the losers have failed because they deserve to fail. They have not earned the right to be treated as equals. They need to be reminded they have no one to blame but themselves; re-educated in the essential truths of Meritocracy. Oftentimes to be punished, for their own good.  Harsh punishment and repeated humiliation will “inculcate a strong work ethic” in them, the lack of which is the cause of their failure.

 

Meritocracy is the ideology of a certain class of people. It is not “the way things are” nor is it natural. It is the self-serving propaganda put forth to rationalize inequality and a class hierarchy even in a socially that purports to believe in democracy and equability of all. The values and implications of the dogma of   Meritocracy are incompatible with many essential American values.

 

Meritocracy dominates the “thinking”, if you can all it that, of the leadership of both the Republican and the Democratic parties in America today. It is why “liberals” are so threatened by thoughts of socialism, or by the mere words of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,  Bernie Sanders, or Ralph Nader and others who keep reminding people there is an alternative, that Social Darwinism, repackaged as Meritocracy is not a divinely-inspired immutable Law of  Nature

 

While in office Obama declared “how well you do in school determines how far you go in life.” Are you poor, frustrated, discouraged about the future?  Can’t get a decent job that pays a living wage? Go to Harvard! Do well there and your degree will be your ticket to upward mobility. College financially out  of reach? Can’t get into Harvard? Tuition skyrocketing? Student debt crisis growing with no end in sight?? Sorry, there is nothing we can do about that. Former cabinet members in the Obama administration have written about how, around 2013, they concluded there just wasn’t much of anything they could do about soaring inequality and crushing debt. Why? Because any such actions would violate the logic of Meritocracy. It would be challenging the scared dogma that suffering citizens on the lowest rungs of society must be divided into two classes: the deserving and the undeserving poor. The Great Fear that  some undeserving people might actually benefit from any actions was a paralyzing fear.

 

Meritocracy replaces solidarity and public interest with a view of isolated individuals engaging in continuous rivalry and competition against each other. The very thought that he “undeserving” would “get something for free” ignites terror and rage in the hearts of those who have bought into the logic of Meritocracy.

 

The kind of deep political and social change we need in this country and in the world depend on recognizing and rejecting the assumptions, the logic, and the implications of Meritocracy. Like the mythical unicorn of the self-regulating ”Free Market” that has never and can never exist, “Meritocracy” is always an illusion that leads humanity astray.  Freeing ourselves from one of the many chains of illusion will help all of us make meaningful change possible.