Meritocracy Unbound

Submitted by PriceRip on Sat, 10/01/2016 - 2:15pm

          Today /users/gulfgal98 referenced her excellent article describing the myth of meritocracy in the context of politics and neoliberalism in particular. In a comment /users/lotlizard referenced Alec Baldwin’s speech in Glengarry Glen Ross . . .

[video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4PE2hSqVnk]
          When I watched this 1992 film adaptation of the play I was struck by how our educational institutions (at all levels) have taken the plunge down this rabbit hole. An educational meritocracy seems at first glance to be reasonable and sound. But, the notion of meritocracy has been responsible for changes that harm the most vulnerable of us as it slithers into our grade schools. The emphases on merit as a quantifiable is destroying us in many ways.

Editorial Note: This will become another "hook" to my Understanding Reality OLLI center series so please leave the comments blank at this time. And, if you missed gulfgal98's original article, it is a very good read, indeed.

Thanks,

RIP

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meritocracy
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Submitted by gulfgal98 on Sat, 10/01/2016 - 2:26pm
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The meritocracy is the new aristocracy with the same ugly trapping of the old aristocracy from centuries ago. IMHO, it is the key idea that has imprisoned us all and the lynchpin behind neo-liberalism.

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Submitted by elenacarlena on Sat, 10/01/2016 - 5:52pm
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wealth with having merit. Also willingness to exploit anyone and everyone to get ahead.

Those with true merit, i.e., parents working 80 hours a week to give their kids a few advantages? Meh.

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Submitted by Dallasdoc on Sat, 10/01/2016 - 3:32pm

... is going to sound like the Sermon on the Mount if Hillary brings her coterie back to the White House.

Agree that gulfgal's essay on meritocracy is extremely timely and endlessly pertinent. Not to mention written with her patented brand of grace and penetrating intelligence. Thanks to the essayist for recognizing it.

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Submitted by Shockwave on Sat, 10/01/2016 - 5:49pm
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The real world is ugly. It's more like greedy crookopia. No wonder Wall Street is a Mecca of psychopathy.

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The political revolution continues

Submitted by Ellen North on Sun, 10/02/2016 - 5:41pm

Sat, 10/01/2016 - 5:49pm — Shockwave

Meritocracy functions in a utopia

The real world is ugly. It's more like greedy crookopia. No wonder Wall Street is a Mecca of psychopathy.

The weird thing is that this article reads like an excuse... 'current zeal to castigate' an industry at best failing to control abusers and criminals describing society demanding that there be consequences for damaging actions and preventative mechanisms emplaced to protect prospective victims?

Is this a suggestion that a 'greater evil' of other psychopaths existing among even 'the poors' makes the continuance of such behaviours in Wall St. firms tolerable/normal/acceptable/negligible?

Would the psychopath next door in poor-to-average neighbourhoods have law arranged to allow them to freely profit from their abuses? If they abuse customers at work, will they keep their jobs and likely get bonuses/promotions for such behaviours?

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/is-wall-street-full-of...

Is Wall Street Full of Psychopaths?

James Silver
Mar 29, 2012

One estimate suggests that one out of every 10 employees on Wall Street is a psychopath. That's probably off, but consider how many almost psychopaths there are instead.

...So, yes, Wall Street may have a significant percentage of self-serving, ruthless, and manipulative psychopaths and almost psychopaths. And, yes, this fact might be of considerable importance in assessing the "moral fiber" of an investment bank. Whether this is a new phenomenon, though, is a separate question. And, in the current zeal to castigate Wall Street, let us not lose sight of the fact that about one out of every 100 people is a psychopath and 15 out of every 100 people are almost psychopaths. They are husbands, wives, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and store clerks.

And they are a lot closer to you than Wall Street.

Obviously, that doesn't 'justify' inadequate oversight and regulation preventing Wall St. criminals/abusers from predating upon others. Nothing does. But I'll bet some profiting from this would like to present it that way.

(Propagandizing of this nature pisses me off, lol.)

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.