103 upvotes, 6 direct replies (showing 6)
View submission: The Business-School Scandal That Just Keeps Getting Bigger
While my thought is not a new idea, I continue to contemplate how big a lie the meritocracy is. Like across all fields, sports, business, politics, it’s so corrupt and littered with cheaters. What’s worse is these people pretend like it’s their god given birth right and they worked hard for it and earned it.
It’s such an alluring proposition though, work hard and succeed. So I get why it’s so easy to get swept up in it. It took me quite a few years of deprogramming and deconstruction to get here and there is still much work to do.
Edit to add: I think of this much like a gambler. You can tell them the odds and they can know the odds but still think they have luck and can beat the house.
Comment by SomeGuyCommentin at 27/11/2024 at 22:43 UTC
43 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Its not just that the outcomes are quite obviously very often not really directly related to abillity, just think about the span of wealth between the rich and the poor.
Even if we distributed the population to the existing roles in society purely by their abillities and efforts; The span just doesnt add up, no one is talented and hard working to the extend that their existence is worth millions or even just thousands of lives of people who are just average.
As the basis of an actual meritocracy we would need to establish a proper minimum **and maximum** wage, that have some relation with how valueable a person could potentially be.
Comment by MustardDinosaur at 27/11/2024 at 23:23 UTC
16 upvotes, 1 direct replies
in my domain alone (humanities) , getting an internship is mainly done through contacts and family (litterally opens closed doors!) while Mr me who knows no big man gets the legal (or HR) speech everytime lol
Comment by veringer at 28/11/2024 at 02:50 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It took me quite a few years of deprogramming and deconstruction to get here and there is still much work to do.
Can you put a finer point of what you mean by getting "here"? I read this as something like "coming to peace with"; especially with the suggestion that there's more work to do. If that's an accurate read, can you describe what your attitude is now, apart from "it's all bullshit"? And can you speculate on where you'd like to go with more work?
I ask because I've been disillusioned for so long I can't point to the moment it clicked. I'd love to have a sense there's somewhere to grow beyond just recognition, understanding, dark humor, and playing the cards you're dealt.
Comment by gelatinous_pellicle at 27/11/2024 at 22:16 UTC
5 upvotes, 2 direct replies
It's possible to be critical and even cynical about our democracy and meritocracy without saying it's a complete lie. A longer view might suggest we are slowly getting better, and may have got quite a bit better at these, but still have a long battle ahead.
Comment by nickisaboss at 28/11/2024 at 11:45 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is ultimately the core issue of capitalism: it rewards some of the worst, most selfish character traits in humanity. I'm so tired of living in a society where each raindrop, following by example, finds no personal responsibility for the flood.
Comment by [deleted] at 27/11/2024 at 21:40 UTC*
-5 upvotes, 2 direct replies
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