The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?

A meritocratic system completely discourages a sense of community and belonging: “The more we view ourselves as self-made and self-sufficient, the less likely we are to care for the fate of those less fortunate than ourselves” (59). What is more, success is seen to be completely of the self, while the failure of others is very clearly their own fault. Meritocracy is “corrosive of commonality” (59). In the past few decades, especially in the realm of higher education, students have increasingly become convinced that their success is due to their own efforts alone—this is not a surprise considering the gauntlet of hoops and obstacles that must be jumped through in order to gain admission to even a halfway decent college.

Remuneration in the marketplace too gives this impression, as the idea that one’s wage is a matter purely of what is earned is an unchallenged assumption. What goes largely ignored is the question of what binds a community together. “Through much of the twentieth century,” for instance, “arguments over the welfare state were arguments about solidarity, about what we owe one another as citizens” (64). Questions of responsibility used to be at the forefront of political

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