The tyranny of merit | Michael Sandel
The tyranny of merit | Michael Sandel [9΄]
What accounts for our polarized public life, and how can we begin to heal it? Political philosopher Michael Sandel offers a surprising answer: those who have flourished need to look in the mirror. He explores how «meritocratic hubris» leads many to believe their success is their own doing and to look down on those who haven't made it, provoking resentment and inflaming the divide between «winners» and «losers» in the new economy.
Hear why we need to reconsider the meaning of success and recognize the role of luck in order to create a less rancorous, more generous civic life.
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[07:34] It is also time for a moral, even spiritual, turning, questioning our meritocratic hubris. Do I morally deserve the talents that enable me to flourish? Is it my doing that I live in a society that prizes the talents I happen to have? Or is that my good luck? Insisting that my success is my due makes it hard to see myself in other people's shoes. Appreciating the role of luck in life can prompt a certain humility. There but for the accident of birth, or the grace of God, or the mystery of fate, go I. [08:23] This spirit of humility is the civic virtue we need now. It's the beginning of a way back from the harsh ethic of success that drives us apart. It points us beyond the tyranny of merit to a less rancorous, more generous public life.
Είναι επίσης καιρός για μια ηθική, ή ακόμα και πνευματική, στροφή, που να θέτει υπό αμφισβήτηση την ύβρη [αλαζονεία] της αξιοκρατίας. Αξίζω άραγε ηθικά τα ταλέντα που μου επιτρέπουν να ευημερώ; Οφείλεται σε δική μου προσπάθεια το γεγονός ότι ζω σε μια κοινωνία η οποία εκτιμά τα ταλέντα που τυχαίνει να διαθέτω; Ή μήπως πρόκειται για την καλή μου τύχη; Το να επιμένω ότι η επιτυχία μου είναι κάτι που δικαιωματικά μου ανήκει, δυσκολεύει την ικανότητά μου να μπω στη θέση των άλλων ανθρώπων. Η αναγνώριση του ρόλου που παίζει η τύχη στη ζωή μπορεί να καλλιεργήσει μια ορισμένη ταπεινότητα. Αν δεν ήταν η τυχαιότητα της γέννησης, ή η χάρη του Θεού, ή το μυστήριο της μοίρας, στη θέση τους θα μπορούσα να βρίσκομαι εγώ. Αυτό το πνεύμα ταπεινότητας αποτελεί την πολιτική αρετή που χρειαζόμαστε σήμερα. Αποτελεί την αφετηρία για να απομακρυνθούμε από τη σκληρή ηθική της επιτυχίας που μας αποξενώνει. Μας δείχνει μιαν οδό πέρα από την τυραννία της αξιοκρατίας, προς μια δημόσια ζωή λιγότερο γεμάτη πικρία [μνησικακία] και περισσότερο γενναιόδωρη.
Harvard Philosopher Exposes the Flaws of Meritocracy | Amanpour and Company [Originally aired on September 9, 2020 | 3΄]
In his new book, celebrated philosopher Michael Sandel argues that the ruling class in politics, business, and higher education exploited meritocracy to lock in their status and devalue essential contributions of the working class.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, your book, of course, is “The Tyranny of Merit.” it also sounds a little bit counter-intuitive. If you’re me sitting in, you know, class-ridden Britain, you look at the United States and you think, wow, it’s not about class, it’s about merit, and if you try hard, you can succeed. But you’re saying that that now is a false narrative, that class is one thing, but also meritocracy is not what it used to be. Tell me how you analyze the reality in that regard?
MICHAEL SANDEL, AUTHOR, “THE TYRANNY OF MERIT”: Right. There are two problems, Christiane, and one of them is that we don’t live up to the meritocratic principles that we profess at Ivy League universities in the U.S., for example, despite generous financial assistance for students from poor families, still, there are more students in these places from the top 1% than from the entire bottom half of the country combined. So, the opportunity to rise, individual mobility, which is one of the great promises of the American dream that has attracted people around the world, doesn’t quite fit the facts on the ground. It’s harder to rise in the U.S. and in Britain than in many other places, many European countries than in Canada, that’s one problem. But there’s a deeper problem, which is the meritocratic ideal that if you work hard, you can rise, you can overcome the inequality we’ve experienced in recent decades through individual mobility. That ideal is flawed. At least, so I try to argue in the book. It’s corrosive of the common good, because it lead the successful, those who land on top, to believe that their success is their own doing and that they, therefore, deserve the bounty the market bestows on them, and by implication that those on the bottom must deserve their fate as well. And this set of attitudes, these attitudes towards success that have accompanied the growing inequality of recent decades, this, I think, accounts for the deep resentments and anger and sense of grievance by many working people who have fueled the populist authoritarian backlash against mainstream parties and governing elites.