Meritocracy, as we would like it
Posted in Social Commentary by mathialee on September 18, 2009
This is a brilliant speech, and he explains in the most elegant way, why the way we measure success and practise meritocracy brings us down
Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtSE4rglxbY
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Tagged with: Alain de Botton, meritocracy
8 Responses
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Oh my this guy is so right about attending school reunions. Really dread parking my Toyota next to the BMWs and Mercs at these events. *sigh*…”what do you do, where do you stay”..oh didn’t make management again, still in HDB, ….
i think we need to recognise that meritocracy is an aspiration, and may well forever be, but that justice and equality ought to be an ideology that runs throughout our every day life
…and it has to be meritocracy not elitism, not ‘familitocracy’….
What do you think of inheritance in a society operating on the principles of meritocracy?
Some of the people driving BMWs and Merc hardly deserve it..they got it coming out of the ‘right womb’. Should people be allowed to secure permanent advantages that can be passed on from generation to generation?
Wel Joe Lee, I suppose the question to ask in the case of inheritance is : what right has anyone to take it away?
Personally, I don’t think anyone has a right to take away from people what they own — that’s communist. I’m OK with the inheritance of private goods, even positions in private companies. I do recognise there is a problem that will arise tho’ but i don’t think communism is the solution. Already, there are huge estate taxes in place ………
When we talk about not distributing resources according to the principles of meritocracy, we’re talking about public goods —- we shouldn’t distribute taxpayer funded goods according to meritocratic principles, but according to the principles of justice, fairness, equity. It’s suppose to either be equally distributed. and more so the the naturally disadvantaged to even out the inequalities caused by the capitalist means of distributing and passing on wealth.
The kind of public goods wer’re talking about : healthcare, education, public infrastructure , food, housing etc etc.
Jobs in the public sector , however, need to be distributed by principles of meritocracy. Unlike private companies where you can pass the chairmanship to your idiot of a son because its your business, literally, it would be unfair and against national interests to do so in the public sector.
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Meritocracy in Singapore? …Here is an example of how people get their jobs. It may be all through connections, it is who you know not your real ability or how you perform:
The former DBS Bank executive, Josie Lau, started her first day of work on Thursday at Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) as the centre manager of the new Mandarin Gallery, slated to open in mid-October.
‘She’s very well-qualified for the job and we’re lucky to have her. She has experience with retail from working at the Singapore Tourism Board, and has dealt with high-end customers at DBS. She is eminently suitable for this job,’ said Thio Gim Hock, chief executive officer of OUE.
This marks the start of a new chapter in a saga that involved Ms Lau’s controversial presidency of women’s rights group Aware.
Mr Thio is the husband of Thio Su Mien who was also embroiled in the Aware issue as Ms Lau’s ‘feminist mentor’.
[...] Temasek Review: State media crowed about Singapore being a “millionaire country” – Mathia Lee: Meritocracy, as we would like it – The Temasek Review: The paradox of Singapore’s economic growth: Time & Income [Recommended] [...]
Nice! I read his Status Anxiety a few years ago, I think some ideas from this ted clip came from there. Also read his newer book on work and jobs a few weeks ago..great stuff!