Attacking ‘merit’ in the name of ‘equity’ is a prescription for mediocrity
George F. Will observes:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/25/attacking-merit-prescription-mediocrity/
“A meritocratic society has less discord than a society that abandons meritocratic principles. Equity, pursued through government-driven allocation of social rewards, drenches society with bitter distributional conflicts because wealth and opportunity are allocated by political power according to shifting standards contested by competing factions. Allowing the market to articulate preferences, without seeking to decide — who will decide who the deciders are? — the preferences’ moral worth, promotes domestic tranquility”.
Meritocracy, Not Democracy, Is the Golden Ticket to Growth
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-16/china-knows-that-meritocracy-is-the-key-to-boosting-economic-growth
Adrian Wooldridge notes:
“The war against merit is producing real consequences. San Francisco’s Lowell School is one of the most successful schools in the country and has given thousands of poor immigrant children (among others) a chance of an elite education. The San Francisco Board of Education has now banned it from using admission tests and introduced a lottery system instead, with the school commissioner, Alison Collins, pronouncing that meritocracy is “racist” and “the antithesis of fair.” Elite schools in New York and Boston are also under threat. Programs for the gifted and talented are being dismantled across the country. Universities have been reducing the importance of standardized admissions tests, with some going so far as to make testing optional, and putting more emphasis on “holistic assessment” instead. Companies are introducing formal or informal quotas in the name of “equity” (which is increasingly taking the place of equality of opportunity as a measure of justice)”.
Harvard’s Michael Sandel on the Dignity of Work
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/contributive-justice-and-dignity-work/615919/
Unfettered markets and a rampant culture of meritocracy have eroded the rewards and dignity of work for most Americans. It’s time for a new ethic of “contributive justice.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/opinion/sunday/white-fragility-meritocracy.html
In Defense of Meritocracy
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/american-meritocracy-needs-reform-not-replacement/
How to Fix American Meritocracy
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/07/david-brooks-american-meritocracy-practical-reforms-more-important-changing-cultural-attitudes/
How We Are Ruining America
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/opinion/how-we-are-ruining-america.html
George F. Will observes:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/25/attacking-merit-prescription-mediocrity/
“A meritocratic society has less discord than a society that abandons meritocratic principles. Equity, pursued through government-driven allocation of social rewards, drenches society with bitter distributional conflicts because wealth and opportunity are allocated by political power according to shifting standards contested by competing factions. Allowing the market to articulate preferences, without seeking to decide — who will decide who the deciders are? — the preferences’ moral worth, promotes domestic tranquility”.
Meritocracy, Not Democracy, Is the Golden Ticket to Growth
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-16/china-knows-that-meritocracy-is-the-key-to-boosting-economic-growth
Adrian Wooldridge notes:
“The war against merit is producing real consequences. San Francisco’s Lowell School is one of the most successful schools in the country and has given thousands of poor immigrant children (among others) a chance of an elite education. The San Francisco Board of Education has now banned it from using admission tests and introduced a lottery system instead, with the school commissioner, Alison Collins, pronouncing that meritocracy is “racist” and “the antithesis of fair.” Elite schools in New York and Boston are also under threat. Programs for the gifted and talented are being dismantled across the country. Universities have been reducing the importance of standardized admissions tests, with some going so far as to make testing optional, and putting more emphasis on “holistic assessment” instead. Companies are introducing formal or informal quotas in the name of “equity” (which is increasingly taking the place of equality of opportunity as a measure of justice)”.
Harvard’s Michael Sandel on the Dignity of Work
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/contributive-justice-and-dignity-work/615919/
Unfettered markets and a rampant culture of meritocracy have eroded the rewards and dignity of work for most Americans. It’s time for a new ethic of “contributive justice.”
The Left’s War on Gifted Kids
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/left-targets-testing-gifted-programs/619315/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/left-targets-testing-gifted-programs/619315/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/opinion/sunday/white-fragility-meritocracy.html
In Defense of Meritocracy
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/american-meritocracy-needs-reform-not-replacement/
How to Fix American Meritocracy
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/07/david-brooks-american-meritocracy-practical-reforms-more-important-changing-cultural-attitudes/
How We Are Ruining America
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/opinion/how-we-are-ruining-america.html