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

The Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 revealed a world that was unprepared to deal with both the virus itself (medically speaking), as well as the fallout caused by the various measures undertaken to deal with the spread of the virus. The West—especially the United States—seemed especially poorly-prepared to deal with the implications and the results. Not only did the USA not have the proper materials to handle the illness or to equip medical professionals, but the wider sociological and political issues were quickly put on display: “[T]he country was not morally prepared for the pandemic. The years leading up to the crisis were a time of deep division—economically, culturally, politically” (3).

One of the most glaring realities that the pandemic highlighted was the vulnerability of the vast majority of the population, as well as the gaps in equality of healthcare, opportunity, and needfulness to the community. What became even more obvious was the shift in global attitudes and outlook in the political sphere: in addition to the typical dichotomy of left and right, the issue that truly mattered was the divide between those who advocated for an open system or a closed one. The globalist mentality favors an open world, dependent on self-determination and driven largely by education.