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<blockquote data-quote="KJ" data-source="post: 84348" data-attributes="member: 1">[URL unfurl=&quot;true&quot;]https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1990/01/18/the-myth-of-meritocracy/ff68b614-f5bd-44e3-9c66-f1f0957a3a49/[/URL]Both opponents and supporters of reverse discrimination carry around a vision in their heads of a society where we all can be ranked from one to 250 million in terms of our qualifications for every job or other social advantage. The antis see this rank ordering as sacred -- the religion of meritocracy. The pros bitterly note that past and present discrimination has skewed the rank orderings, and demand arbitrary access to the higher slots. In a way, they celebrate and reinforce the hierarchical vision in their attack on its imperfections.More often than not, though, the attack is too limited. Inequalities of income, wealth, status are inevitable, and in a capitalist system even necessary. But too much energy and time are spent quarreling over the distribution of advantages, and not enough asking whether any particular advantage is necessary at all. Our society is full of arbitrary hierarchies and superfluous invidious distinctions. In many cases the problem may not be any particular form of discrimination -- racial discrimination or sexual discrimination or reverse discrimination -- but the need for discrimination itself.[URL unfurl=&quot;true&quot;]https://www.salon.com/2019/04/15/robert-reich-the-myth-of-meritocracy_partner/[/URL]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KJ, post: 84348, member: 1"] [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1990/01/18/the-myth-of-meritocracy/ff68b614-f5bd-44e3-9c66-f1f0957a3a49/[/URL] Both opponents and supporters of reverse discrimination carry around a vision in their heads of a society where we all can be ranked from one to 250 million in terms of our qualifications for every job or other social advantage. The antis see this rank ordering as sacred -- the religion of meritocracy. The pros bitterly note that past and present discrimination has skewed the rank orderings, and demand arbitrary access to the higher slots. [B]In a way, they celebrate and reinforce the hierarchical vision in their attack on its imperfections.[/B] More often than not, though, the attack is too limited. Inequalities of income, wealth, status are inevitable, and in a capitalist system even necessary. But too much energy and time are spent quarreling over the distribution of advantages, and not enough asking whether any particular advantage is necessary at all. Our society is full of arbitrary hierarchies and superfluous invidious distinctions. [B]In many cases the problem may not be any particular form of discrimination -- racial discrimination or sexual discrimination or reverse discrimination -- but the need for discrimination itself.[/B] [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.salon.com/2019/04/15/robert-reich-the-myth-of-meritocracy_partner/[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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