Bootstraps

One idea that most of us devoutly wish to be true is the idea of meritocracy. Current scandals and political events make us speculate about this concept and the longer one thinks about it the more it seems a fiction that has never been realized in human history. Different endowments in genetics, social status , gender and a host of other areas make meritocracy all but impossible. Out of twelve candidates, Jesus picked one to lead the church. There was no job interview or series of benchmarks to meet… it was a judgment by a person in power.

Life is never so simple that the best will rise to positions of power and influence based on “merit.” Merit is the most moveable of moveable feasts. As long as there is human judgment involved merits themselves are randomly defined. We rarely transcend our isms and cherished points of view. A hiring committee may find gender more important than academic achievement in the interest of faculty diversity and an employer might value physical strength over intellect. There is never a guarantee that, “the cream will rise to the top.”

Class often defines opportunity and opportunity all most always defines success. Some inherit great sums of money while other-perhaps better qualified-inherit nothing. With this in mind we have experimented with collectivism and other political systems designed to equalize life’s playing field, one to find that within a short time hierarchies surface based one upon power and wealth. No political system in the history of the world has ever been a meritocracy. It is a Utopian notion and we all wish it were true.

Clearly, it isn’t.

In the argument that economists call the homogenous packed goods argument, we encounter the idea that we have a pre-conceived notion of value that has little to do with the actual product we buy. We differentiate and we often do so for the silliest of reasons. A good example has to do with dish soap. You are standing in your local store considering a shelf of products that all clean dishes…any one would serve your purpose. Then the process of product differentiation begins and you consider price, color (does it match the color of your kitchen) size (is it taller than the backsplash) and brand. Ultimately, you find yourself buying the package rather than the product itself.

Imagine you are an admissions coordinator and you are staring at a stack of applications from students with excellent GPAS and SAT scores….any one of these students could do well. You have 40 open spaces for enrollment and 250 applications and the process of differentiation begins immediately. You look at extracurriculars, race, gender – even lookism – to help you with you decision. No meritocracy.

Then someone shows up at your door who is a “legacy.” Daddy has give millions to the university. In the outer hall, a student is waiting with a check for one hundred thousand dollars…well, you get the idea. Before long the word “fair” is beyond meaningless.

Recent events make clear how unacceptable it is to buy your way to a good education but no cure is immediately apparent. Someone is always the gatekeeper to the land of opportunity.