Michael Sandel presentation at the TED MainStage night, as part of TED2020: Uncharted. Opportunity has never been, and is not now, equally distributed, but our enduring belief in the myth has left us with winners and losers who both believe it was their doing, and their doing alone, that got them where they are. If “you can make it if you try” sounds hollow these days, that’s because it is. Young presciently saw the danger in replacing a hereditary aristocracy - in which financial rewards and social prestige are bestowed through family lineage - with a system in which citizens (presumably) start out on equal footing and are rewarded purely for effort. It was, as he conceived of it, not a good thing. It means, essentially, getting what you deserve in life as opposed to what you’re born with. Sandel’s book is a contribution to a growing oeuvre that’s rethinking meritocracy, including Daniel Markovit’s 2019 book The Meritocracy Trap and Christopher Hayes’ “Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy.”Īlthough it may sound as American as apple pie, the term “meritocracy” was actually introduced in a work of satirical fiction by British sociologist Michael Young in 1958. The president acknowledges Maine lobstermen in a way that traditional politicians, in the mode of elite-educated technocrats like Barack Obama, do not. He just directed millions in federal funds to support the industry and offset tariffs from China. He invited a Maine lobsterman to speak at the Republican convention this year. Having just read Michael Sandel’s “The Tyranny of Merit” and done a little Googling, I think I understand the president’s appeal to lobstermen now. His boat pulled to a stop in front of us, the cabin dwarfed by an enormous blue flag flying aloft in the breeze: TRUMP 2020: FUCK YOUR FEELINGS. While strolling the docks of Stonington, a charming town on the southern tip of Deer Isle, we were particularly struck by one lobsterman’s Trumpian devotion. Once we got off Interstate 95 and into rural towns like Palermo, Searsmont and Belfast, we started counting TRUMP signs, reaching 31 to BIDEN’s one. My family drove to Cape Rosier, Maine, a few weeks ago.
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