Daniel Markovits graduated from a public school in Austin, Texas in the summer of 1987. From there he headed northeast to attend Yale, and then picked up a string of degrees as he spent 15 years of his life studying at the London School of Economics, the University of Oxford, Harvard, and, last but not least, Yale Law School.
Today, I teach at Yale Law, where my students unnervingly resemble my younger self: They are, overwhelmingly, products of professional parents and high-class universities. I pass on to them the advantages that my own teachers bestowed on me. They, and I, owe our prosperity and our caste to meritocracy.
It’s all thanks to meritocracy that he was able to go where he is at now. However, meritocracy is also something that makes everyone miserable, as it only values achievement above all else.
Check out more of this over at The Atlantic.
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Well ... isn't voting basically a popularity contest? Maybe we need to have all the contestants pass a gauntlet of tests first, before they can be listed on the ballot.
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It's an interesting article, especially since we've been told over and over again that the escape from poverty is through the ladders of education (basically a meritocracy).
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I agree, some people are driven, either by themselves or their parents, but a meritocracy is a hell of a lot better than what we have now, as is proven by the moronic malignant narcissist squatting in the Oval Office, where some people prize fame (even if it's mental chewing gum reality TV) and money (even if it's fake (like Trump's.)) Being famous only for being famous makes too many prize vapid fakery. I'd rather have people look up to someone who achieved greatness in some way that matters -- and that generally involves some kind of intellectual curiosity and/or achievement in education.
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