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The Meritocracy Trap: How America's…
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The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite (udgave 2020)

af Daniel Markovits (Forfatter)

MedlemmerAnmeldelserPopularitetGennemsnitlig vurderingOmtaler
2034132,560 (3.13)4
"It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal--that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding--reigns supreme. Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream. But what if, both up and down the social ladder, meritocracy is a sham? Today, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy's successes. This is the radical argument that Daniel Markovits prosecutes with rare force. Markovits is well placed to expose the sham of meritocracy. Having spent his life at elite universities, he knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within. Markovits also knows that, if we understand that meritocratic inequality produces near-universal harm, we can cure it. When The Meritocracy Trap reveals the inner workings of the meritocratic machine, it also illuminates the first steps outward, towards a new world that might once again afford dignity and prosperity to the American people"--Book jacket.… (mere)
Medlem:basvodde
Titel:The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite
Forfattere:Daniel Markovits (Forfatter)
Info:Penguin Books (2020), 448 pages
Samlinger:Dit bibliotek
Vurdering:
Nøgleord:Ingen

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The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite af Daniel Markovits

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Throughout the book I kept thinking the author is proving how meritocracy is the superior system but he manages to make quite a convincing argument against it but only through broadening the definition to include wider social problems into the system which makes it truly bad: unfair inherited advantage and fierce rat race at the top (well, near the top, at the real top there is no race). ( )
  Paul_S | Oct 11, 2021 |
I picked up this book hoping to read about the meritocracy myth. You know, the myth that if you just apply yourself and work hard enough that you can get ahead. The myth that conservatives and boot-strappers like to use to explain why poor people are poor, and why we shouldn't fund a social safety net in the United States.

This is not that book. This is a book by an ivory tower elitist who is a professor at Yale Law School (of all places) and complains about how the "meritocracy" (as opposed to aristocracy) means that the super-wealthy are overworked as they hoard the nation's (and world's) wealth into their pockets.

I mean. What? Seriously?

Firstly, only somebody who has always had one's head in the clouds can say with a straight face that the wealthy are suffering by working long hours while having no understanding of the plight of the middle and lower classes. I challenge anybody to work the hours that many people do working two, three, even four jobs to make ends meet. The only difference between the work that the elite do vs. the work that the poor do is that the elite have decided not to compensate the poor fairly for their work; in fact, that is the only way that an elite class can be formed. CEOs cannot make as much as they do if the people at the bottom make living wages.

But this book makes no mention of the lower classes. Only the elite and middle class are even mentioned in this book. And the middle class is looked down upon so patronizingly. They are just doomed to a fate of doing dreary work at little to no compensation, while the elites with their super industrious work ethics sail up above everyone else. I am lucky to be one of the few people left in the middle class, and I acknowledge all of the privilege in my life that has brought me here and that keeps me here. I do not need some asshole from Yale patting me on the head telling me that I'm just not trying hard enough to make billions of dollars. I have a PhD in engineering, I'm a professor, and I will NEVER make the money of a lawyer or CEO. Because lawyers, CEOs, hedge fund managers, and the politicians that have taken their money do not support people in the middle and lower classes making up any financial ground on the wealthy elite.

The author goes on and on about how wealthy folks spend so much time and effort providing the best in education for their children. (See all of my crocodile tears? I weep for the wealthy. Really. 🙄) What he ignores are things like the 2019 college admissions scandal. What he ignores are things like networking and old boys clubs that still, in 2020, exist to keep the white male elite forging ahead at the expense of everybody else. What about the folks from lower classes who do make it to ivy leagues? What of their experiences? The ground that all of the students are standing on is not at the same level. Again, only somebody with their heads in the clouds would fail to see that.

This book just goes ahead and upholds the myths of late stage capitalism, and hopes to instill sympathy in the elite, the "superordinate" workers (as he calls them). I say this book is just another symptom of the giant mess that the United States is in. ( )
1 stem lemontwist | Dec 11, 2020 |
This book attempts to offer an explanation of the differences between the Aristocracy of Europe and the Meritocracy in America. Comparing different times and different points of emphasis such as education, earning power, identity, backgrounds, and home neighborhoods, he makes the point that although the Aristocracy was once the leisure class, the Meritocracy, which he likens to America’s Aristocracy, are now workaholics. The working schedules have flipped, and rather than the lower classes working longer hours, now the upper classes work non-stop, putting job and achievement above all other obligations, even family. Hard work is expected, and is the norm, with all other concerns in life relegated to a less important stature. The children of Meritocrats are indoctrinated into the same way of life as their parents, and therefore, they perpetuate this system which is increasingly dividing us by class and increasing the divide from the top to the bottom, making it almost impossible for anyone on the bottom to achieve the American Dream that they once thought attainable.
With the development of improved technology, the emphasis on skills has gone to an emphasis on service. Instead of needing a trade, one needs a degree from a prestigious school, increasingly only available to those who are legacies and come from the best backgrounds. When he describes the methods needed to get to the pinnacle of success, i.e, appropriate parents, appropriate bank account and appropriate education, all else in life becomes secondary. Breaking into the stratosphere of high salaries and prestige is now virtually impossible without the appropriate pedigree.
For the author, the Meritocracy is now simply another form of Aristocracy, allowing the same group of people to succeed, leaving those with inappropriate backgrounds behind and unable to join them in the rarefied atmosphere of their schools and neighborhoods, travel opportunities and other social benefits like good health care. He states, repetitively, using myriad statistics, that the class divide has deepened, rather than merged closer, enabling only the rare soul to break out of the mold holding him firm. In years past, a person could start in the stockroom of a company and rise to the position of CEO, a person could start as a stockbroker and rise to be the managing director of the firm, a teller could become the director of a bank even if he started off in the backroom, but today, it is virtually impossible to do that.
Unfortunately, this book reads like a textbook. It is repetitious and often tedious, as statistics, sometimes so numerous as to seem random, are sited ad nauseum to prove the same point, over and over again in chapter after chapter. Also, the author seems to want to use as many words as possible and his descriptions often go on for so long with so many adverbs and adjectives piling up, that it is hard to follow his sentences and meaning. By the time one ends, the reader will not remember the beginning or the point being made. His use of expressions like “antecedent economic equality” only serve to confuse the reader. If there is a hard way and an easy way to explain something, the author seems to want to use the hardest, using convoluted sentence structure to impress the reader with his brilliance. The route he uses to make his point is so circuitous as to often make his intent incomprehensible. In addition, he uses words** uncommon in the daily use of most people, like stakhanovite and rentier; one is of Russian derivation and the other of French. However, why use words not in the common vernacular? I think the author has given himself away as a part of the group he is railing against. His education must have been superb. Now that he had achieved success, he seems to be questioning the way success is achieved.
The author seems to believe that Americans work excessively hard to rise to the top, squeezing out competition and making it impossible for others to reach that pinnacle. He believes the expectations in the work place for such superhuman effort perpetuates the upper class position and serves to further divide us by class and identity. If, in America, as the author states, the Meritocracy developed in response to our opposition to the idea of an Aristocracy, it has failed to make us more equal. Aristocrats worshiped their leisure and titles. Meritocrats worship their hard work and pursue higher education. They became the tools with which to succeed, rather than their background. After decades, however, the result is that the Meritocracy has created its own form of Aristocracy, with attendance in the best schools and achieving the best jobs now dependent on the legacy of the parent’s education, financial success, and name recognition. The ability to live the good life with good health care, travel opportunities and other luxuries, comes from one’s ability to attend elite schools so as to achieve financial success. The tools necessary to succeed, besides breeding, like having specialized tutors and doing well on standardized tests, cost money, so much so, that it effectively isolates and prevents an entire segment of the population from ever becoming the future leaders. Name recognition can easily get one into the best schools, though, i.e, the children of Presidents like Obama and Clinton or heads of companies and dynasties like Forbes, Zuckerburg and Bloomberg easily slide into the right segment of society, but few of us have such fame. It is becoming more and more uncommon for anyone to break out of their preordained position.
The author states that in order to equalize the playing field, attempts are now being made to help the disadvantaged get a leg up by offering them financial aid, tutoring, remedial classes, scholarships, academic and sports, etc. However, this takes time and leveling the playing field has its down side. Sometimes we are educating those who cannot succeed because they are not capable. Not everyone succeeds in college. Some people would be better off with a trade school, however, we no longer have them. For the author, in order to combat Meritocracy, the solution seems to depend on what he terms as Democratic Economic Equality as opposed to using one’s qualifications and capabilities as determinants. To create this more Democratic world, he would increase taxes on those able to pay, reduce hours of work to make room for others, provide subsidies for those in need, etc. Perhaps he dreams of a utopian Communist or Socialist society, both ideas which have been tried but proved unsuccessful.
In the beginning chapter and in the final one, the author’s true intent may have been revealed. It is obvious from his subtle and not so subtle comments, that he leans left and is decidedly critical of President Donald Trump. He believes that it is a frustrated, misinformed, wrong footed group that has elected him as President. His facts are not accurate, however, as he states that he Trump has been unsuccessful in helping the lower and middle class. It has been proven, statistically, that he has indeed improved the lot of the unemployed and those on the lower end of the financial spectrum. Among other achievements and promises made and kept, he has also improved the lot of Hispanics and Blacks, diminishing the effect of the identity politics of which the author disagrees. I was left wondering if the author really meant this book to be a rebuke of the President and those that voted for him. His agenda is Progressive as he compares the affluent (and I suspect evil) town of Palo Alto to the downtrodden, hopelessly trapped (I expect virtuous) town of St. Clair Shores. He wants to make both towns financially the same, diminishing the power of Palo Alto by taking its portfolio and using it to increase the portfolio of those in St. Clair Shores making them more powerful and equalizing their prospects. When both are equal, there will be equal work, education and economic opportunity for all.
In my opinion, this is just another anti-right, anti Trump book being published by the anti-Trump publishing world.

**”a worker in the former Soviet Union who was exceptionally hardworking and productive.”
“the Stakhanovites succeeded in increasing the quantity of goods produced”
”Rentier may refer to: Rentier (property owner) [fr], someone whose income derives from rents, interest on investments, and the like; Rentier capitalism, economic …”

The book can be summarized quickly.
1-Aristocrats do not work. They do not value education.
2Meritocrats work excessively hard and value education to advance themselves
3-Meritocrats were supposed to make the playing field more equal for everyone to get ahead, but instead they have become the new Aristocrats. As they worked harder and harder with longer and longer hours, they forced others out
4-As Meritocrats achieved more and more knowledge, skills were unnecessary. Trades disappeared.
5-As Meritocrats gained access into better and better schools, their children became legacies.
6-As the Meritocrats earned more and more money, the divide between those at the top an those at the bottom widened, making it impossible for those at the bottom to rise because of financial requirements.
7-Aristocrats were very rich and influential. Now Meritocrats are super rich and powerful.
8-Meritocrats have created a Meritocracy which has morphed into an Aristocracy.
9-The author states that only a nuclear debacle can now make the world a more equal place. Alternatively, he advocates higher taxes, more open enrollment and fewer restrictions on college admissions so that everyone has an equal opportunity, which disregards one’s ability to make use of such an education. He supports a host of other social programs all of which will be paid for by the rich for the advantage of those in need. Soon, there will be one class, no rich or no poor, no uneducated, none without health care, etc. In short, a utopia will be born with the principles of Socialism or Communism. We will all be equal. For how long will this be true before another Aristocracy rises? ( )
  thewanderingjew | Jan 12, 2020 |
This book by Yale Law professor Daniel Markovits argues that meritocracy which is the system we have used in this country to determine who gets into colleges and eventually into jobs no longer serves the purpose it was supposed to. Instead it has created a greater divide between the 1% and the rest of the middle and lower classes. It also has impacted the 1% negatively because it has caused them to have to be more competitive and work harder to maintain their position. In light of the recent college admission scandal, Markovits is correct that the 1% are caught up in this system. However, he does try to get the reader to feel sorry for this elite class. Unfortunately, I don't think that there is much evidence that the rich are dealing with widespread misery. Meritocracy on the surface is a much better system than choosing people based on class, race etc. There are many other things contributing to the growth in inequality that can be addressed by revising our tax system. Also as he points out, our elite universities with their enormous endowments should be using more of their resources to get more people on the lower economic rungs into their schools. The author also tends to lump the middle class into one category of being engaged in dead end jobs. Way too simplistic. He seems to negate the impact of the huge number of good non elite schools whose education leads to a pretty good life for the middle class. It was a good book but it really didn't tread any new ground. Yes, the rich work hard and do their best to make sure their kids do well to maintain their wealth and status. Just like aristocracy had done forever. The rich want to stay rich. What a surprise. ( )
  nivramkoorb | Jan 1, 2020 |
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"It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal--that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding--reigns supreme. Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream. But what if, both up and down the social ladder, meritocracy is a sham? Today, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy's successes. This is the radical argument that Daniel Markovits prosecutes with rare force. Markovits is well placed to expose the sham of meritocracy. Having spent his life at elite universities, he knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within. Markovits also knows that, if we understand that meritocratic inequality produces near-universal harm, we can cure it. When The Meritocracy Trap reveals the inner workings of the meritocratic machine, it also illuminates the first steps outward, towards a new world that might once again afford dignity and prosperity to the American people"--Book jacket.

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