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Resurrection of Meritocracy
Much ink has been spilled regarding the benefits and drawbacks of meritocracy. I’ll provide some perspective on the history of the failings that have been credited to meritocracy, but I’m mainly here to say that if we want people to want to work and to stay employed, we must restore a meritocracy that gives them more than a paycheck, encourages them to be part of the workforce, and sustains them there, in spite of the forces that will encourage them to submit to Marxism and socialism.
Rather than focus on the arguments against providing a meritocracy, I’d like to address those who have given power to destroying it. Behind all their justifications are the mantras of the left: diversity, inclusion, and equity.
In a society where DIE is paramount, you simply can’t allow for a meritocracy. It emerged as a movement to counteract elitism as pointed out on the Powerline blog:
The main reason why the United States easily outstripped Europe and Asia in economic growth and cultural influence in the 19th and 20th centuries is that we were a meritocracy. Talent and hard work prevailed over privilege of birth and adherence to established ideologies. Sadly, we have lost that advantage. As we have documented many times on this site, the Left’s war on standards has resulted in a dumbing down of our educational system and our culture. None of our competitors has been this stupid, and China, in particular–despite ostensibly being a Communist country!–is a ruthless meritocracy where it counts.
To critics, supporting the assignment of merit discounts the importance of diversity: People are only valuable if they complete an artificial mandate for diverse numbers. Inclusion is also excluded from meritocracy: If making everyone feel included is a key metric, then demonstrating merit is worthless. And equity — making sure that rewards are evenly distributed can’t survive in a meritocratic environment.
So, how did we get to this point? Its roots lie in our childhood experiences. It was nurtured in the university. And now our woke workplaces are engaged in this process, destroying their own opportunities for success. Instead of valuing people’s hard work, the opportunities for them to meet their full potential, to learn and grow, and lauding their ability to be a part of something bigger, we just ask them to “show up” — and do even less. An early submission to the left’s agenda was awarding participation trophies.
Participation Trophies
Remember the outcry over “participation trophies”? The people who wanted to provide participation trophies, including parents, were seriously misguided. They wanted to build the self-esteem of a child by giving him or her a trophy, rather than having children learn that self-esteem comes through the things we do, what we accomplish. These people wanted everyone to feel rewarded by giving them this piece of plastic or metal, instead of celebrating that their rewards would come from the experience of being part of a team. They wanted to protect them from the trauma of failure, instead of teaching them that failure or mistakes are part of life, and as painful as they might be, we can all learn and grow from them. That being a team member means you have a group that will count on you, who will know that you will show up and be reliable.
These are the kinds of life experiences that will help these children learn how to navigate life and rise above difficulties. They won’t get that from a trophy just for showing up.
School Testing and Grades
The next problematic area came from the schools, testing and grades in particular. Part of the problem with criticizing grades is making generalizations about what they measure and what they tell us about students. When classes are difficult, we struggle; we feel bad and even inadequate. But every class can also help us grow — an important part of moving into adulthood. Rather than debate specific testing or grading regimens, I’d simply like to point out what students lose when tests and grades don’t matter. Entering a college without tests provides no input — for the student or university — about the students’ abilities to survive or fail. Too often, ignoring GPAs is a setup for failure if the student hasn’t done well previously. So, we use their college application to decide if they are nice people; if they put in community hours, they are seen in a positive light. We might not even know if the person can write after reviewing a college essay, since we have no way of knowing who even wrote it.
For the benefit of the students, we need to review substantive information before we even admit them. Otherwise, they are likely to be ill-prepared to survive the college environment.
Due to living in an entitlement society, people attending university think that jobs will magically show up; that hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt will disappear; that if they find a job, they won’t need to start at the bottom like every other newbie. These are not adults who graduate from college; they are overgrown teenagers who have no clue about living a satisfying, responsible, and productive life.
Changing the Educational Priorities and Culture
For many reasons, we must change society’s perspective on the value of education after high school. Some young people may be better suited for the many jobs that will need to be filled that don’t require a college education. We must change the mindset that a graduate must go to a university. We must spread the word that an education that prepares an individual to thrive into adulthood is the most important step to take. In spite of the conversations about trade schools, which are beginning to thrive, we are still fighting the perception that a trade school is less prestigious than a university. How about making the development of adult skills prestigious? How about making earning a living prestigious? How about finding a job prestigious? How about making entrepreneurship prestigious? How about celebrating jobs that allow us to start out debt free in life? How about making self-reliance prestigious?
Employment
One of the most lamentable changes that will have a direct impact on our country’s future is the decision of corporations to join the woke culture. The leaders of these companies are self-immolating in the hope of earning prestige and power. Instead, they will continue to have difficulty finding employees who genuinely appreciate the bounties of work.
Surprisingly, people in our country still appreciate a meritocracy:
Despite the attacks from elites, most people still prefer a system based on merit. A Pew poll from 2019 found that 73% of Americans, including 62% of blacks, opposed the use of racial preferences in college admissions. Gallup surveys show that among the 15% of the world’s adults who want to emigrate from where they live, the most popular destination countries are the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, Australia and the U.K.—generally the most meritocratic.
Resurrection of Meritocracy
Early on, even in childhood, we must remind our citizens what it means to live in a meritocracy, how rewarding, exciting, and beneficial it is to be a person who works hard, knows the value of hard work, and sees the rewards of participating in an organization that professes the same beliefs. How do we do that?
- No more participation trophies! We teach children that recognition and praise are earned and are very satisfying.
- Being part of a team is a learning experience and rewarding, whether you do well or not.
- We teach them how to deal with loss and also how to be a “good winner.”
- Receiving team hats and uniforms are rewards.
- We celebrate each person’s contributions, even if they are small ones.
- We counsel students long before they graduate high school about the pros and cons of the university, the benefits and opportunities at trade schools, and even the options of going to work straight out of school.
- We help them identify the kinds of activities and environments they enjoy.
- We encourage them not to be afraid to ask for help along the way.
- We tell them to change course if they are clear that the path is not working for them.
- We tell them not to give up!
We need to promote the values of a meritocracy as much as possible to replace the insidiousness of entitlement. We must begin early and point out at every opportunity what learning, hard work, and independence can mean to them. We must convince them that a salary helps an employee to feel rewarded but being fully engaged with their work will help them to feel whole. Businesses must encourage and reward good performance, both through recognition and financially.
The benefits of living within a meritocracy are immeasurable.
It’s time to make the change!
Published in Culture
I was especially motivated to write this post, because people have started working, but they’re quitting jobs and going to other jobs. That’s always been true, and I don’t have numbers, but it’s being reported and I think we’re going to see more of it. I don’t expect to see the loyalty people used to have to their employers, but it may start looking like a revolving door soon.
There is a tension be meritocracy and aspirations for a “protected life”. It goes hand in glove with the notion that offensive words are equivalent to violence and to be controlled and suppressed. This creates a fragile people and a fragile nation. Children need to be made rugged. Not abused, but toughened. They should be mask-less and free to get injured and to get sick with a treatable illness. They should relearn “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. That is not license for gratuitous name calling or bullying. But children need to learn that disagreement is normal and natural, that people have preferences that are personal and changeable. That is life and everyone gets to experience sorrow and loss. More importantly people take chances and fail, using their failure to inform them about how to achieve future success. Finally, it is OK not to be the best at something, but those who are the best at it get to claim rewards tied to what they are good at. We should not envy them in a way that denies them those rewards; we should find joy in the rewards that match our own skills and efforts. There is no limit on joy; it is not reserved for the select. Someone else’s joy does not limit my own. If it does, that is a problem with me and not with meritocracy.
Very insightful response.
I remember many years ago that I worked for an S&L. I was with them for a while, but at one point, I came to believe that I should be making more–that the industry should be paying more. So I requested a meeting with one of the VPs–Mr. Gordon–after discussing my concern with my manager. I didn’t tell him the purpose, and he was a little on edge at first, but eventually he realized I had an interesting question. He explained salaries were industry-determined, and they chose to work within those limits. After about a 20 minute discussion, I felt that I’d been heard and I left on good terms.
At my next performance review, I got a nice raise. And Mr. Gordon and I had a good rapport for years afterward.
I guess that we’re asking people to accept adulthood; for some, that may be a major ask.
I haven’t heard any calls for abolishing meritocracy in sports—basketball quotas for short white people?–or in music–tone-deaf singers in every rock group–or for that matter, in acting. I guess we’ve reached to point at which *entertainment* is now considered far and away the most important industry/profession in our society.
Good grief. I think you’re right, David. Thoughts on that?
Maybe it’s because those who invest of them care about the big bucks than they care about DIE. Star players and stars in entertainment bring in the big bucks (although I think some tone-deaf singers may be hiding out in rock groups). And we demand star players and stars otherwise, too.
But that wouldn’t explain the lack of hostility toward meritocracy in these fields on the part of the population in general. There seem to be a lot more people upset about a CEO making $20 million a year than about a ballplayer or actor making $20 million a year.
Two thoughts: most of us put stars and athletes in separate categories than ourselves; we can’t imagine our doing what they do. But CEOs–they’re just elevated versions of us, going to work, 9-5, and we should be getting the money they get since they couldn’t possibly be earning it. Not strong arguments, but the best I have right now!
I think there’s some of that. Academics, in particular, often have little understanding of what is involved in jobs in other fields, and often seem very resentful that they don’t have higher status and pay. This attitude makes even less sense now than it did, considering the quite respectable pay and benefits that tenured professors get these days.
It’s a simple formula:
EoOut ≠ EoOpp
Equality of outcome does not equal equality of opportunity. I have an equal opportunity to try out for the NBA, but I can’t demand that the league hire an overweight, overage, and overwhite man so I get an equal outcome as LeBron James.
(It’s too bad, because I’ve already picked out my nickname – “King Richard”)
There are more than a few employers who contribute to this problem via their management and compensation approaches. I recommend Zeynep Ton’s book The Good Jobs Strategy, which I reviewed here:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/60771.html
In a scare-worker environment, her recommendations deserve special attention.
I’ll have an unpopular take here, but I’m ok with millenials checking out and giving these corporations the bird in favor of free money. Corporations are super-villain levels of evil. I checked out of that world this year and probably added 15 years to my life.
There is ZERO meritocracy in corporate America. None. Unless you check certain boxes, you don’t get promoted. Remember when workplace relationships were seen as conflicts of interest and frowned upon? Well, I cant tell you how many times I’ve seen gay couples hired as a package deal for the same position. Or how about compensation? You get a raise that does not compete with inflation, meanwhile your bureaucracy keeps inflating. This was always bad, but I noticed this get REALLY bad over the last few years. What does a Sustainability Chief Officer add to the bottom line? Or a Racial Justice Coordinator? Last year, the company I worked for hired a Viral Disease Communicator. Gee, is that the free market at work or is their a government gun behind the head that made that decision? And I guarantee all of these bureaucrats make six figures, while you’re making a few bucks more than you did five years ago.
And how about degrees? These people won’t even look at you unless you have one. Nevermind that most jobs are learned on the job. Did I say learn on the job? You mean by training, right? No, corporate America doesn’t have trainers anymore. You’re expected to do that in addition to your regular job functions with no increase in pay. Why do they want you to have degrees? Because if you have a degree, that means you are in debt and less likely to leave. So they can treat you like garbage and you have no choice but to eat garbage.
How about your health insurance? You have no say in that, the bureaucracy does. So your plan will not cover insulin if you’re diabetic, but the plan will cover transgender surgery up to 300k because that’s the politically correct thing to do. Did I mention politics? Because all of these companies are in league with political activists. I won’t go into many details, but take a look at the recent stories about your 401k investments. They can pump your stocks as long as they contribute to the proper left wing activist organizations. How many of you got lectured after George Floyd’s death last year by your HR department? I did. I also did by companies I never even worked for. I dont care what a company I ordered jeans from in 2017 thinks about systemic racism.
So yeah. I’d like to see all of these corporations suffer in agony until they start treating employees right, pay them based on merit, and stop requiring useless degrees. Until then, get out. Join the 1099 superior class. Let the checkmarks have corporate America.
You assumed corporations. What about all the small to medium-sized businesses, where so many jobs are not filled? You might have noticed my comment about corporations “self-immolating.” And all those people who don’t take real jobs and live on the government dole–they’ll be our future. It’s time for them to grow up.
I’m all for small business. I would never start one in this climate tthough. And most small businesses are fine to work for if you’re in high school, but if you’ve got bills to pay, they’re not going to be able to support you. It’s a really messed up situation that government only makes worse.
I wouldn’t start one either. But some were operating and are trying to survive. And they are trying to pay more.
@jamessalerno, so you sound like you don’t want people to work for anyone. I don’t think you mean that.
Not I. I’m not sure we even have an HR person, much less an HR department.
Well, there are a lot of very important economic activities which can only be done by fairly large corporations (unless one wants them to be done directly by some government department)…to name a few:
–manufacturing jet engines and power turbines
–running freight railroads
–refining oil
–building and operating pipeline networks
–running telecommunication networks (may change with the emergence of wireless mesh networks)
If DIE reduces profits surely companies – and the culture – will self correct?
Not really. The very definition of work means you have to do something for somebody, I just want people to have as must control over what they do as possible. And I want evil people punished and I want government out of all of this.
We have an elite class that fails upwards and brings the country down. What needs to be stressed about meritocracy is people of merit build systems, institutions, innovations, and achievements that lift us all up and bring success and opportunity to us all. We have all been suffering because we have the antithesis of meritocracy in almost all of our major institutions and the people who mess things up bring us all down financially, spiritually, and competitively. Merit can’t be restored until these people are thrown on the dung heap and that goes for both parties and the leaders of most US institutions.
I agree!
Loyalty works best when it works both ways.
Almost every college or university president is making 200-300% more than he or she should.
This is definitely a generation thing. You used to be able to work at the same company for your entire life and they took care of you. For a lot of reasons I got into, it doesn’t work like that anymore. You want a raise? Look elsewhere and get a better offer.
What does Pete Buttigieg do, exactly?
If we are willing to wait 50 years for all the value to be burned up.
He declares low bridges and overpasses to be racist.
Its all sustained by fake money we keep pumping into it. The financial system would have to crash first.