I’ve read a few books on merit now – they should come up if you search my shelves – and I would recommend any of them, but this is a particularly good telling of the ‘anti-merit’ argument. The warnings about the dangers of meritocracy are literally (and I mean literally, not figuratively) as old as the term itself. That’s because the guy who coined the term in 1958, Michael Young, did so as the premise for his novel on a future dystopia. In fact, he was so annoyed that the term was being used fo...

A meritocracy is a political system in which economic goods and political power are vested in individuals on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than on wealth, social class, or other arbitrary prejudices. The principle is simple and easily illustrated with an example. Let’s say you’re hiring someone to perform a job, in this case a mechanic to repair your car. Who should you choose? In the interest of both efficiency (the mechanic's capacity to quickly make affordable, quality

I loved Sandel's book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? His power is incisive analysis: he cuts to the Augustinian heart of divisive issues using classic philosophical tools. He also explains all this slowly and clearly. He is the single most gifted guide of classroom discussion that I have ever seen (I not only read Justice; I watched the WBUR Boston recordings of his class; they were sterling).This book wasn't quite as lean and refined as Justice; it also didn't deal with as important a t...

The Politics of HumiliationAnyone familiar with differential calculus can recognise the fundamental logical problem of attributing responsibility for results (pay for performance; test scores; organisation success; etc) to an individual. The contribution of any one factor (person) to a total can only be assessed when all other factors (social background, level of education, genetic composition, ethnicity, etc.) are held constant. So for example, in the question of performance pay, one must be ab...

Sandel wants to restore the dignity of work by universal basic income (he does not call it that but that is what it is), because he thinks Trump got elected by white, racist males with no college degrees left behind by globalization. Thus, every worker (in Sandels imagination: every envious, angry non-college graduate) should have a part of their salary paid directly by the state. Moreover, he wants to make the college admissions process of Harvard into a lottery, so it is random above a certain...

"The technocratic faith in markets set the stage for populist discontent. The market-driven version of globalization brought growing inequality. It also devalued national identities and allegiances. As goods and capital flowed freely across national borders, those who stood astride the global economy valorized cosmopolitan identities as a progressive enlightened alternative to the narrow, parochial ways of protectionism, tribalism, and conflict. The real political divide, they argued, was no lon...

Every single book authored by Michael Sandel has transformed the way I perceive the moral and political world around me and this book was no exception. To me, this book was the best analysis of the 2016 election of Donald Trump in the U.S., the Brexit in the UK, and the populist movement around the world. Michael Sandel brings to light the failure of the elites (like those that live in my liberal bubbles) to see their role in creating the populist response in the last decade. (Hint: If you're a

Michael Sandel straight up GOATed. What a legend. For some reason, his books really got me this year. I think Tyranny of Merit is at the top of my "full book is better than the one-hour podcast interview" list for 2021. My brain was exploding with thoughts the entire time, because this book is about a class of person I very squarely belong to: hard-working graduates of esteemed universities. So a lot of the arguments hit very close to home, and made me realize just how perverse the attitudes of

What could possibly be wrong with a political and social structure that allows citizens to rise to the level of wealth and prestige equivalent to their ability? Many politicians proudly proclaim that their country is a place where anyone who goes to college and works hard can have their dreams come true to achieve a prosperous and happy life. In light of all these positive comments many readers of this book will be surprised to learn that the term meritocracy was originally coined in 1958 by soc...

I seriously hated this book for reasons too numerous to recount. Very disappointed. At a very basic level, if you are going to write a book where you continually evoke “the elite” and “merit” — defining the terms would be an excellent start. The lack of care with definitions and repeated invocations of unproven and unsupported premises made this book incredibly problematic for me.

The Common Good is for you to pay for Sandel's wages, pension, health care, even his nephew's education. So perish the thought of you enjoying your earnings, because Sandel has made plans to speak in Europe, all expenses paid by you.

Although repetitive, "The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?" (2020) by Michael Sandel was the most transformative book I have read in recent years, as it touches on fundamental current issues that explain the intricate human relations of our society at the beginning of this century. The principal point of this book is revealed as: The dignity of our work is not measured by the salary we receive. A análise completa, extensa, encontra-se no meu blog em Português:https://virtual-i...

Sandel argues that the shift to a meritocratic system, which seemed so just in comparison to inherited rights or other ‘systems,’ in fact has two critical flaws in its implementation. First, particularly as seen in educational systems, it ignores the differential benefits of nurturing across environments that range from upper crust helicopter parenting to fend-for-yourself because your parents are working three jobs apiece to keep food on the table. That one is well known. I worked for the Unive...