Meritocracy Essays

The actual term “meritocracy” was adopted by British sociologist Michael Young in his book published in 1958, The rise of meritocracy(INSERT). Young has made it clear in the book and in many interviews that the term has a negative connotation which reflects on his disapproval of it. When the U.S slowly adopted the word, Young expressed his thoughts by stating that “It is good sense to appoint individual people to jobs on their merit. It is the opposite when those who are judged to have merit of

THESIS: As a product of society’s “equal” meritocracy, we must find a scale for our actions by comparing our successes and failures to others, creating status anxiety, resulting in our idea of success being relative to our peer’s success. We base our own self worth and value too much on the outside influences and how others view us. We can no longer look in the mirror and see ourselves as we are, we unconsciously compare ourselves to what is “perfect” is based on ideals from our friends, family

Meritocracy is defined as a system in which power is only given to individuals according to their differentiated caliber. The maxim for meritocracy advocates would be “equal opportunity for all”. However, it is not always the case, as that would mean turning a blind eye to differences in genetics, social class, wealth, parental legacies and other educational opportunities. This gives rise to the many failings of meritocracy. Among them, the most serious problems associated with meritocracy would

Marxism does not believe that true meritocracy occurs within the educational system. (Kennedy and Power, 2010) Bowles and Gintis (1976) argue the notion and existence of meritocracy. As there is inequality in a capitalist society, this is reflected in the educational system. According to Bowles and Gintis (1976) the main factor in determining someone’s success and income is not to their ability but a result of their background and class. The myth of meritocracy does nothing to help the working class

many factors. While I believe that a meritocratic society makes sense in terms of who gets what, it is more complex than that based off of where many Americans start as opposed to others. The playing field is not leveled by any means which is why meritocracy as a whole does not fully make sense. What I mean by this is that people born in impoverished parts of America are not given the same opportunities as those in upscale parts of America. When Brian gave our class a presentation, I learned that a

which has allowed for the development of meritocracy and equality of opportunity within the contemporary education system pupils are now experiencing. Equality of opportunity within the contemporary education system has allowed and is in theory allowing all pupils to have the same educational experiences both inside and outside the classroom environment regardless of ethnicity, gender, and social class, mental or physical disability. Whereas, meritocracy in the contemporary education system is where

the belief that those with the greatest talent and ability should hold power. Yet, as Dave Eggers points out in his novel The Circle, this concept of meritocracy is still a work in progress. The novel addresses a lot of modern day issues, which the author attempts to solve by means of full technological transparency, the key to achieving meritocracy. The story follows a young girl, Mae Holland, who lands her dream job at an influential technology company called The Circle. Mae serves as an example

Meritocracy is the idea that those who work hard will get their just reward, be it money, power, or status. This belief is propagated in the conception of the American Dream and its message that wealth, power, and status is available for anyone willing to work

to the people of France in a time of distress. When Napoleon was leader he ended up both upholding and undermining the ideals and goals of the French revolution. Napoleon upheld the revolution by creating equality for all men, and by making a meritocracy, but he also undermined it by taking away most if not all of the women's rights, and taking away freedom of the press. Napoleon was born into a poor, but powerful family on the island of Corsica in 1769. At the age of fifteen Napoleon went to École

In chapter 1 of Outliers, Gladwell brings Canadian meritocracy as an example of the relative age to prove that the appropriate birthdates are important. Although the Canadian meritocracy seems an ideal way to nurture best players only depends on the ability of individuals outwardly, real aspect of the Canadian meritocracy is not an actual meritocracy. The real fact of the Canadian meritocracy to the most players who reach on top of Hockey world starts from the opportunity

the three categories of ancient, medieval, and modern history. This division, known as the tripartite division of history, originated with Italian humanists. Humanists separated the influence of church from thought, and secularized art in Italy. Meritocracy also contributed to the renaissance in Italy through individualism. The Italian Renaissance was the center of the renaissance in all of Europe. The lack of papal and imperial authority freed intellects from taking steps away from

simply lack the education and resources to alleviate the basic, yet burning problems of poverty and starvation. On the opposite side of the scale, monarchy and oligarchy governments embrace social classes, but refract them under the murky water of meritocracy, as they only base social classes on the merit of royalty lineage and inherited wealth. Social classes in a capitalist government, however, account for the multifarious traits of a successful leader, then a position that person according to their

Intrinsic factors critically considered when people think about the main components of success. However, Malcolm Gladwell, a famous writer, contradicts this tendency through the book, Outliers. The book, Outliers insists that extrinsic factors define success rather than the intrinsic ones. Nonetheless, Gladwell himself goes against the topic of Outliers in his assertion: “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires (Gladwell

middle class are only slightly benefiting while the poor are in a stagnant state. American economics needs to change in ways that benefit all of Americans and not just the wealthy. The article claims that the true guilty party is not inequality but meritocracy.  “Inequality is not inherently wrong—as long as three conditions are met: first, society as a whole is getting richer; second, there is a safety net for the very poor; and third, everybody, regardless of class, race, creed or sex, has an opportunity

The American Dream is the idea that Americans can work really hard to achieve their values and goals and eventually become very satisfied with their financial and social situations. Blacks’ desire to achieve the American Dream started when they migrated up North, leaving behind their plantation fields in the South. These were the first acts of Black Power, or self-determination. But when Blacks attempted to achieve the American Dream, they were often pushed back by White supremacy, stereotyping

society and minorities. However, the opposite is happening. Affirmative action needs to be done away with in American colleges because it destroys the idea of a meritocracy. provides a less prepared workplace, and it leads to reverse discrimination. Affirmative action destroys the idea of meritocracy. The basis of American meritocracy and the American Dream is that those who work

Capitalism is built on the existence of private firms, where in Karl Marx’s opinion, the income generated is a result of the exploitation of workers. In private firms, workers do not own factors of production and Marx believed that this would inevitably lead to the alienation of workers from their environment and themselves. Unlike in traditional societies, where workers gain satisfaction from creating products of their own chosen specialized fields, in the current context, workers see their work

democratic government is, therefore, one supported by a majority of the populace”. There are many other types of government with different systems that can function just as great or even much better. There is constitutional monarchy, technocracy, meritocracy but best of all is Geniocracy. Constitutional monarchy would work great because it is a great way to make sure that it has an effective system of checks and balances between the various ideas of government. It has a working constitution which

development of Chinses civilizations because the Qin dynasty was able to use it to unify China and inspire the Han dynasty. Although Emperor Zheng led the Qin army to fight with the same weapons as their rivals, but because of their meritocracy, they were undefeated. The meritocracy allowed soldiers and officials to be promoted strictly on the of accomplishment no matter the ranking of your family. Similar to Ashoka's way of providing people with the hopeful possibility of a change in status to get what

n recent years the Conservative Government, Theresa May in particular, has talked about meritocracy in most all of her speeches for the reintroduction of grammar schools. She wants to change the system so the "most academically gifted children get the specialist support to fulfil their potential regardless of their family income or background”, in order to boost meritocracy. However, if we face the facts, implementing this into the society we live in today is another matter. In 1965-66, when