Book Review: The Tyranny of Merit
How even the most well-meaning political philosophies fall apart under scrutiny
If you were to build a society, what would it look like? You might argue that a society should be fair and just. People should get what they work for, and those who need assistance should receive it. Above all else, our fate should be determined through merit, rather than arbitrary characteristics such as our appearance. At first blush, a society based on merit might seem like a utopian ideal; something to strive for, even if it is never fully actualized. But just like every utopia ever imagined, something is a little off.
In The Tyranny of Merit, Michael Sandel argues that there is a dark side to meritocracy. He focuses mainly on the academic setting because that is where his expertise lies, and because that is where the problem is perhaps most pronounced.
He opens the book with a few well-known anecdotes about how parents have paid thousands and sometimes millions to get their kids into prestigious universities. The “Varsity Blues Scandal” is an infamous case, where 33 parents were accused of spending over $25 million to fraudulently inflate test scores and bribe college officials. They even paid for fabricated sports profiles and had their children’s faces photoshopped onto pictures of other people playing sports.
The problem with merit is that merit itself has become so sought after. That is, by implementing meritocracy, we inevitably create perverse incentives to get ahead and make it look like we deserve our success, even when we cheated every step along the way. Therefore, when parents pay exorbitant amounts to get their children admitted into prestigious universities, they aren’t just paying for the diploma, but for the status signal that their child earned it.
Though back-door admissions are morally abhorrent, they only account for a small percentage of those who get into university. Yet, more students at Yale come from the top 1% than the bottom 60%. A greater percentage of those who get accepted enter through the side door via some affiliation with a given university.
The majority of students get in through the front door, but even this is not completely meritorious, for it is the result of one’s position in life. Opportunities aren’t distributed evenly throughout the population. Urban communities often suffer from underdeveloped schooling programs, and their students are almost never prepared to continue their education, nor are they made aware of the possibility.
It is perhaps front-door admissions that are the most pernicious because the unfairness is harder to spot. Because people who get into prestigious universities typically work incredibly hard to get there, the illusion persists that hard work always goes rewarded. This misses the fact that not all of us are put in a position where we are able to strive toward high professional ambitions. Some of us can only strive to put food on the table.
Similarly, not all of us are put in a position where our hard work will pay off. Our fate is not determined only by grit, resilience, and tenacity, but by luck, chance, and circumstance. Lebron James’ success, for example, is not only due to his athletic ability, but because he lives in a world that values basketball players. Lucky for Lebron, not so much for people like me.
Misconceptions about the winners and losers of meritocracy persist because we conflate our aspirations with reality. We know that the most competent people should be in the most powerful positions, so we assume that those at the top have earned their spot, and those at the bottom just aren’t working hard enough.
Throughout the book, Sandel challenges claims that “Meritocracy would work if only…” For example, a common solution to the problem of inequality is to provide aid to those who need it. This is generally a good thing, but in a meritocracy, it puts the onus on those who qualify for assistance to make the case that their situation is not their own doing, but a result of their helpless circumstances, lack of agency, and inability to act responsibly. We are basically compensating people to admit that they couldn’t have done better for themselves even if they tried.
Not only is meritocracy worthy of skepticism, but the very concept of merit is almost never useful. Nothing is achieved through merit alone. Policies should be made with this in mind if we are aiming for a truly equitable society. But until that happens, I encourage everyone to read this book. A lot of our problems would be solved if people thought through their political beliefs as Michael Sandel does here. Through reason and the myriad examples he provides, Sandel shows that even the most benign and benevolent of political philosophies can end up doing more harm than good.
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