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When the Term Meritocracy was Coined in 1958, it was in a Dystopian Satire

posted by n1 on Saturday June 18 2016, @06:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the in-my-day-we-called-it-social-darwinism dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

When Michael Young, a British sociologist, coined the term meritocracy in 1958, it was in a dystopian satire. At the time, the world he imagined, in which intelligence fully determined who thrived and who languished, was understood to be predatory, pathological, far-fetched.

Today, however, we’ve almost finished installing such a system, and we have embraced the idea of a meritocracy with few reservations, even treating it as virtuous. That can’t be right. Smart people should feel entitled to make the most of their gift. But they should not reshape society so as to instate giftedness as a universal yardstick of human worth.

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  • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday June 18 2016, @08:36AM

    by davester666 (155) on Saturday June 18 2016, @08:36AM (#362047)

    We have that in the USA. For our next president, most people will be choosing the slightly-less terrible candidate.

    But where is this "meritocracy" that has been installed?

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Aiwendil on Saturday June 18 2016, @09:31AM

    by Aiwendil (531) on Saturday June 18 2016, @09:31AM (#362052) Journal

    But where is this "meritocracy" that has been installed?

    Canada?

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Nerdfest on Saturday June 18 2016, @01:19PM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Saturday June 18 2016, @01:19PM (#362080)

      Sorry.

    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday June 18 2016, @08:58PM

      by davester666 (155) on Saturday June 18 2016, @08:58PM (#362180)

      Definitely not, Justin is the P.M.

      • (Score: 2) by dry on Sunday June 19 2016, @04:09AM

        by dry (223) on Sunday June 19 2016, @04:09AM (#362276) Journal

        Well we went from a failed economics professor to a successful math teacher who also has an engineering degree (acquired after teaching).

      • (Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Sunday June 19 2016, @01:43PM

        by Aiwendil (531) on Sunday June 19 2016, @01:43PM (#362424) Journal

        Was in part an attempt at humor, in part in that the PM in Canada actually has at least some education in STEM..

        But if you want a serious answer: Singapore

        (and let's not forget that germany's Merkel is a trained scientist (chemistry research))