When Meritocracy Breeds Greed

Journalist Steven Brill discusses how the U.S. lost sight of the common good.
When people use their success to only help themselves and not the common good, is meritocracy failing?
According to journalist Steven Brill, that is cause and consequence of much of what ails American society today. Joined by INET President Rob Johnson and Better Markets President and CEO Dennis Kelleher, Brill discusses his new book Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America's Fifty-Year Fall--and Those Fighting to Reverse It (Knopf, 2018).
Brill chronicles the erosion of the common good in American society. Congressional representatives are more in touch with their donors than their constituents. The executives who caused the financial crisis have avoided any criminal responsibility. And the middle class dream-that our children will be better off than us-is, in Brill’s words, “just not happening.” But, Brill also offers a hopeful look at the resilience of people who are speaking truth to power and challenging the economic, political, and social institutions that have fragmented the U.S.

[@brianpetersen3429]

As a retired art professor, the longer I live, the more convinced I am that this planet is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.

[@rain_cloud1491]

Hahaha RIGHT !!!

[@ese3go]

@@rain_cloud1491 Pray for the rain!

[@jelirestri]

Speaking as a lunatic living in this planet, I can confirm this comment accurately reflects the aims of the Intergalactic Population Transfer

[@paulmakinson1965]

Do not attribute to malevolence what can be explained with incompetence. I worked as a ski instructor for the billionaires in Saint Moritz, Switzerland. I noticed that most of these people have no clue of how the rest of us live or what our problems are. They have succeeded in insulating themselves in gated communities, private jets, exclusive Swiss boarding schools or worse, homeschooling with private teachers for their kids. They only frequent people of their own class to the point that I could barely relate to them as our cultural references and interests were so different. In time, they might even diverge genetically to form a different species (ironic tone).

[@NEMO-NEMO]

@paul I too worked as a private chef for the rich and shameless, same experience as you.

[@wess674]

If Congress had to get their healthcare from the open market we would see an efficient healthcare system very quickly.

[@jackvac1918]

"Merit" is never a neutral quality. Those higher up the ladder have enormous influence on deciding which merits are valued, and the merits they value tend to be those that _they themselves_ find useful for _advancing their own self-interests_ , not what is most valuable for the organisation or society as a whole. Thus merit becomes whatever the rich and powerful find useful to preserve and advance their own wealth and power while the individual becomes the scapegoat for systemic failings and have the blame and guilt for things outside their control foisted upon them. Instead of being a "great leveller", meritocracy entrenches and rationalises deep socioeconomic disparities and legitimises the oligarchic power structures that arise from them.

[@303machine]

""Merit" is never a neutral quality." Not true. Are leaders in all over the world the best people, individuals from their pool of people you could find? No. If we would apply the same "democratic" principles in sport, sport would suck. Being rich and powerful is not necessary based on merit but conspiracy, corruption, "lobbying" (soft word for bribery), tribalism, nepotism. Majority of wealth is product of real or subtle (capitalist) slavery. Only small portion of people get rich on their own merit and capabilities.

[@legpetruchka2124]

Votre discours sur la méritocratie est admirable merçi

[@deepinmind83]

It also increases overall distain for others. This arrogance is passed down throughout society as even the weakest and least powerful among us spend a large amount of time entertaining themselves with the ridicule of others. The majority of our media isn’t news, but looking down on others so you can feel good about your life. No understanding of why people are screwed up, or self reflection on how we are capable of the same sins in the right situation, but denial of our fallibility and damnation of others. We are losing empathy and curiosity. Dog eat dog is the new enlightenment of our day.

[@Crap4me2]

Similar situations that lead to the fall of the monarchy of France. The system is but one major calamity away from total dissolution.

[@JS-ih7lu]

When your politicians spend 70% of their time fundraising, when do you expect them to find the time to run the country?

[@maxrobespierre9176]

Meritocracy is a lie. People rarely rise through the ranks based on merit, but on usefulness to the person(s) with the power to grant the promotion. After that, it’s simply a self perpetuating machine.

[@NEMO-NEMO]

@Max, America didn’t even start out with merit, but instead murder!

[@303machine]

Democracy is a lie.

[@AtlantaBill]

It once was in the U.S. capitalist system and a few states that copied the model. And it is now in the closely watched capitalist sector of the People's Republic of China.

[@maxrobespierre9176]

@Chip Belori Competence is very subjective and depends on what competence is being rewarded. My life observations would tend to contradict what I believe you are saying. In the professional fields of consultancy, my observations indicate that “birds of a feather stick together” is the more likely catalyst for advancement. The “good ole boy’s club”, university attended, pedigree, ultra-political over competence in the field, ad nauseam. But, the exception will also prove the rule. So no.

[@weston.weston]

@Chip Belori I wish it was true that competence was rewarded. It is a nice ideal but far from reality.

[@rjbjr]

There are two major types of Meritocracy in the world. One based on hard work and gaining the trust of the population, the other is mostly about birth right and wealth. Guess which one is practiced in China and which in the US.

[@huehuecoyotl2]

This whole notion of Meritocracy only worked at a time when business owners need to appease the working class in order to maintain their profits and position. Since the 1970's, we're in a world where labor can be outsourced all over the world or is automated. The incentive to appease the working class (those who do not own the output of their labor, but just get a wage) is dwindling to nothing. This is going to be worse than the Gilded Age we emerged from at the beginning of the last century, because at least then, capitalism needed labor, skilled labor to generated profits. That is rapidly changing. These guys in this video seem to think that appealing to principled elites to restore a sense of shared ownership in society will help fix things. It will not. That will not be anywhere near enough. What we really need is for the working class, the vast majority that work and earn a wage to make a living, to realize they have to start taking control, taking charge and taking ownership of this society, or they are going to get trampled. Long gone is the time we could rely on principled, or at least sensible elites to keep things working for us. It's not sustainable when the system is set up to award being a self-centered bastard. The working class needs to take control, run for office, vote, protest, demand the things we need to live and provide for our children. No one is going to do it for us.

[@williamlee1245]

I agree, the future will be no doubt a thousand times more difficult if we don't reign in the powers that corrupt our society. It's already gone too far. Though, I don't believe shifting to a Socialistic model would be most effective. One of the best parts of capitalism is that we have very competent people at the top of the hierarchy. We still want that. We just need safety nets to bring everyone else up.

[@LEX_606]

courage

[@MPostma72]

Plutocrats need to remember, the pitches and torches will come if they push the common people too far.

[@aaronsanders6162]

Mass Extinction you do realize we have a collective agency right? Resigning that is how we guarantee we all die

[@susanneyuk-pingpong8705]

The help of genuine class-traitors among the elites is also welcome.

[@scoutjohnson1803]

The trouble is that the press do not hold our politicians to account. The press represent power more than they ever have.

[@gigante87]

"They're the victims of good government", that hit home hard.

[@DrSanity7777777]

“As riches increase and accumulate in few hands, as luxury prevails in society, virtue will be in a greater degree considered as only a graceful appendage of wealth, and the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard.” - Alexander Hamilton

[@thrissurdiary9583]

Interviewer is a class of his own 👍!

[@TheOHenry666]

Most peoples idea of "Merit" is how well people did in school. The reality is is that school up until about the graduate school level is just an obedience test. If you've internalized the system and proven your obedience to do any work assigned (even when its boring, irrelevant and stupid) and proved your willingness to beat your classmates in a zero sum competition, then you get the prestige and the money and ultimately the "microphone". So in a way, our "meritocrats" are those who sold out to and then internalized the system that told them "you get what you deserve because you got those darn "A's", and those losers who didn't get those A's get exactly what they deserve." So I don't believe our societies way of selecting "merit" is valid and even if it was so, just because some people are less "meritous" doesn't mean that you're justified treat them like garbage and that they don't exist. What was Trumps election? He was the result of the "losers" grabbing at the only microphone they had left (the vote), and using it to insult the "meritous".

[@andrewfrank7222]

You took the wrong classes. Math / Physics / Chemistry require problem solving skill. Not memorization.

[@lawsonj39]

I agree that elementary and secondary education tends to be "an obedience test," though there are certainly brave and brilliant teachers who provide exceptions to that rule. On the college level, the picture becomes more mixed. As Andrew says, there are disciplines--and I'd add, courses--that challenge students to approach the realities of life critically, dynamically, and creatively. But the system we live in certainly constrains the ways that students--and all citizens--can apply those critical and creative attitudes and skills.

[@MultiSmartass1]

Good points. Meritocracy is just the form of the American class system The few profit and succeed and most fail and struggle and remain poor.

[@jamespoppitz2256]

Getting close to the truth..there will be no common good if people dont believe in a common good.

[@galek75]

So cooperation and selecting qualified people is bad for some reason? Something tells me you have no idea what you're talking about.

[@mcsquared4319]

Considering corporations as persons by law is a basic flaw. It is just a way, for the owners, to be able to put the blame on someone else, here, on a physical entity devoided of consciousness. The perfect magic trick...!

[@jvs333]

The economic investment into our future decline was started by Reagan and the GOP with the shift from a working/labor bottom up economy to Reagan’s trickledown top down economy. Which shifted our public/societal economic growth to an economic system that allowed this at the top to have first take on our economy which led to the hoarding of wealth and tax laws that enabled them to use that wealth to further secure their control of our financial structure and system to their benefit at the expense of a further depleted and indebted societal structure. They get the financial advantages and benefits and the public is left holding the debt and are further disadvantaged and weakened in their ability to control their future because its those parts of government services that are the first to be scrapped due to the created debt of the top down trickledown policies. Like corporate raiders our country’s treasury and future is being raided

[@alexphoenix9208]

We profess to love democracy, but we don't live in one. Capitalism is authoritarian. The boss tells you what to do. We have an illusion of democracy as we all get out and go work for bosses. If you don't like your job, you can quit .... for another job where the boss tells you what to do. All systems are "market" systems. Markets are about exchange. The feudal world had markets, where people exchanged goods. Capitalism is about owner/worker, and it's not democratic at heart. We can make it so. Either workers need to be paid with shares in the business, or everyone needs to work for themselves, and we tear down the model of the mega corp. We're just to greedy and selfish as a species, at this moment. Trump is a symptom, not a cause.

[@thomashahn631]

I would add that the meritocracy, being higher achievers than the slackers of the past, have done so by neglecting aspects of learning that they view as useless: literature, art, music. Aspects of learning that cultivate sensitivity to ordinary mans plight and certain aesthetic values are absurdly out of context in that group....at least among the most embedded in our Nation's power structure. Never has there been a greater indifference to speaking and writing styles among lawyers and politicians than today's. Oratory is a dead art and a 3rd rate speak like Obama can pass for being accomplished. When was the last time there was any reference to a great philosopher or poet in any speech? They pride themselves in technocratic jargon, which at times is purposefully opaque, and stooping towards flattering that which they perceive to be common people's vanities. They get ahead by being malleable to any disposition adopted by authority, or idea proposed by teachers and mentors - particularly, they are adept at riding the waves of group think. These are not the types that promote a Beethoven, a Michelangelo, and certainly not a Martin Luther or Martin Luther King. The problems we face are compounded by there being a crisis in authentic leadership in this country....one who lacks any imagination, nor who can conceive of a better run society.

[@joaofernandes4769]

When meritocracy breeds envy.

[@Argentarius11]

What does putting unqualified people in positions of authority cause? Failure or extreme mediocracy. Does it matter the reason they are underprivileged? What matters is the results: over 50 years of Affirmative action doing nothing to improve wealth inequality. Why is it so difficult to admit the statistics that AA has failed? Time for something different, like putting real money into education.

[@AudioPervert1]

When? As if any form of material gain based competition does not breed greed, avarice and frustration. Why do economist always inject hope in hopeless systems ..

[@williamlee1245]

For those who like this video, you should check our Michael Sandel, a Harvard political philosopher, who has worked extensively on the pervasiveness of market-based forces into every aspect of our society.

[@1210SKEEN]

What I got from this is that meritocracy is essential in the US but you can only get up to a certain point after which then the lure of money can blind us from restoring balance for others. If we do choose to restore the balance, we may loose out on being a high earner like our capitalist colleagues. 🤔 It's everyone for themselves at the top

[@DrSanity7777777]

Stakeholders vs. shareholders tends to end in stakeholder increases. "Let this country get hungry and they are going to eat, no matter what happens to budgets, income taxes or Wall Street. Washington mustn’t forget who rules when it comes to a show down." - Will Rogers

[@franklinfalco9069]

Don't confuse capitalism with meritocracy.

[@adeltalebpour4955]

Analysis is great 👌🏽 and refreshing

[@rcmrcm3370]

Let's Blame Ralph Nader, instead of the Supreme Court. Ralf emphasised the listener (who must be a human) but the court emphasized the "press", ie: money.

[@farhadchaudhry]

Yeah. So weird. Also the idea that politicians before were altruistic and not bought out by corporations or special interests in advancing legislation is nonsense. This is just liberal mythmaking.

[@rcmrcm3370]

@@farhadchaudhry Yes, exactly, to the extent that the founding fathers were the special interests.

[@hinteregions]

Those ‘guard rails,’ quite so. Noam Chomsky’s main idea for remedying this lethal over-extension of neoliberal capitalism (Reagan, Thatcher etc) is simply to put them back! But my main reason for writing was to thank our host in particular, such a class act, and this site for giving me some entry into economics suited to lay people like myself. Thank you.

[@Krontok]

Meritocracy breeds greed? Wow and here I thought that greed has existed in EVERY SINGLE SOCIETAL STRUCTURE IN HISTORY. Clearly I must be wrong and these fine men trying to sell you something are right.

[@joshuaaranda3990]

Krontok Seems to me like you would have to prove that, instead of just assuming it.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

Excellent interview, thank you.

[@BdR76]

7:53 "that's certainly _your_ ideal" 11:21 "like this guy" 13:26 "guys like him " I agree with most of what Brill is saying but idk he gives off a weird vibe

[@ginc86]

Regulate Big Tech and Free Julian Assange!

[@SouthernCom]

These Rob Johnson interviews are pure gold.

[@pepsastomna7758]

This is some bizzare alternative reading of meritocracy as an idea. Your system being abused by greed =/= meritocracy.

[@hamayontokhi9117]

thanks you for doing a great job..i thoroughly enjoy watching it!

[@aquickstory2196]

we have many excuses for our dysfunctional habits. a world built on lies is not sustainable. it will crash. the first to fall is the group at the top, then those at the bottom.

[@NEMO-NEMO]

@a quick story AKA, Revolution

[@nightoftheworld]

1:20 Sheldon Solomon (TMT) said this in the 90’s-that we’re at the first time in American history when kids are not necessarily going to do better than their parents (rising expectations in a world of diminishing returns) and that this would have terrible psychological consequences. Nailed it... massive economic precarity alongside rising deaths of despair. Discrepancy between media spectacle saturation and life-world poverty explains the other aspect of discontent I think..

[@DSAK55]

Robert D. Putnam said this 1995. The loss of "Social Capital" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone

[@vivalaleta]

I read the same in the 80's and think it began before then. My parents had a nice house, a cabin, a new car, yearly vacations and 4 kids on one salary. When has it been that easy here?

[@DrSanity7777777]

The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money became an important part in determining elections. Later on this process of corruption spread to the law courts. And the to the army, and finally the republic was subject to the rule of emporers. - Plutarch

[@rain_cloud1491]

Why do senators need to raise money when they get a salary?

[@andrewnahon]

Election campaigns.

[@rain_cloud1491]

@@andrewnahon in that case a one term only policy. That way they can spend more time OFF the phone dialing for dollars and do the job that they swore an oath do VS the oath the raise dollars to embed themselves with deep pockets.

[@0zoneTherapyW0rks]

In the US, both political parties today are dominated by the failed libertarian radical right, fueled mostly by the Koch donor network. Their idea of liberty actually depends on economic inequality. It’s their “human right”. Economic freedom over liberty for all. Isn’t that undemocratic? “Aryeh Neier, founder of Human Rights Watch and its executive director for 12 years, doesn’t hide his contempt for the idea of economic equality as one of the key human rights. Neier is so opposed to the idea of economic equality that he even equates the very idea of economic equality and justice with oppression-economic rights to him are a violation of human rights, rather than essential human rights, thereby completely inverting traditional left thinking. Here’s what Neier wrote in his memoir, Taking Liberties: “The concept of economic and social rights is profoundly undemocratic… Authoritarian power is probably a prerequisite for giving meaning to economic and social rights.” Neier here is aping free-market libertarian mandarins like Friedrich von Hayek, or Hayek’s libertarian forefathers like William Graham Sumner, the robber baron mandarin and notorious laissez-faire Social Darwinist. As with Neier, William Graham Sumner argued that liberty has an inverse relationship to economic equality; according to Sumner, the more economic equality, the less liberty; whereas the greater the inequality in a society, the more liberty its individuals enjoy. It’s the fundamental equation underlying all libertarian ideology and politics-a robber baron’s ideology at heart.” thedailybanter.com/2012/06/the-quiet-extermination-of-labor-rights-from-human-rights/ The libertarians’ futile dream of a nationless world dominated by privately owned charter cities has been attempted in Honduras to no avail. In this dystopic world of Technocracy and Property Owners, the restoration of the nation-state has never been more obvious. “In a libertarian society, there is no commons or public space. There are property lines, not borders. When it comes to real property and physical movement across such real property, there are owners, guests, licensees, business invitees and trespassers - not legal and illegal immigrants.” ~ Jeff Deist, president of the Mises Institute

[@0zoneTherapyW0rks]

“The more inequality in a society, the more hate, the more dysfunction, the more mental illness, the more physical illness.” It should come as no surprise, then, that we see more addiction and more mass shootings since “the inequality is rising all the time.” Violence against racial, ethnic, or religious groups “is a manifestation of a society that foments division amongst people and sets people against each other.” www2.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/hate-addiction-pittsburgh-shooting-childhood-trauma-gabor-mate-20181102.html?fbclid=IwAR0HUxIsCYCRjzgP9esxNknoczq6

[@stephenmealing6366]

Ok I think I am understanding it now, our thousands of regulations are not working because the rich keep getting richer despite how many regulations we add. So we need more laws and regulation! ok great!

[@dobleplus]

Can you increase the volume of your recordings? In noisy environments even at max it's hard to understand.

[@SalmanKhan-tg8hi]

Luca Celotti ok...m....x.....n.....demo......now.....opera....n....de...

[@dobleplus]

haha exactly... de... ok.... n...

[@robertcammon5969]

The problem is that Once the Trump people learned they were scammed doubled down and stuck to believing in Trump instead of uniting for the common good.

[@MrSpectaman]

real talk

[@stephen_pfrimmer]

And we're beyond investment banks now. It's asset management firms, and short-selling on energy futures without people involved: software making billions on bets.

[@rapauli]

Wanna see what Amazon thinks of this book? Just try to buy it from amazon.com/books Abe Books will sell it. This is hubris at its worst.

[@rapauli]

Great reason to buy the book, blocked by Amazon. How many others? What are the titles?

[@AtlantaBill]

Meritocracy is defined as the promotion of those who propel the system in the direction of greater inequality and defend that inequality ("protections for the 'haves' ", in the words of Steven Brill). Odd that KZbin(c) didn't burden us with a Wikipedia(c) definition that "corrects" the presentation's take on the term 'meritocracy'; they slipped up for once.

[@AtlantaBill]

@@chipcook5346 I know that the owners of KZbin always have, but possibly they don't understand the subtleties of the discussion.

[@enriquemir7708]

and now let hear what the CCP has to say in this matter.....

[@torasclaat]

Turn the sound up please.

[@johnmaisonneuve9057]

What is the person’s name and name of his book? That would be nice.

[@adtiamzon3663]

Sad... for the young generations and the future generations. 🇺🇲🤔

[@dawei666]

Let's realize it is an extractive generational battle.

[@JennetPreston]

Seeing problems generationally is one of the things media do to keep you from seeing problems in terms of class.

[@swdetroitjesus]

Blaming Ralph Nader is dumb as hell

[@johnellington1932]

Cut the Cake. .001% Surgeon Call.

[@tombouie]

Thks & request an update

[@nealtauss1715]

... the New American Dream.... 'hope it's quick'.....

[@vcab6875]

We Hispanic Americans have figured out this country is fully tribal. Guess who has the biggest tribe?

[@numbersix8919]

Subscribing!

[@grb1969]

9:40-12:44 Ideological Balance of meritocracy between benefits of personal gains with the common good, as guided by responsibility and accountability to legitimate constraints of regulatory law.

[@grb1969]

Meritocracy has failed the common good w.r.t. ecocide, an equitable economy, social equality, legitimate governance/justice, and individual/corporate accountability. Please tell me more about how regulatory incrementalism will radically alter the accelerating collapse of the human species. Complicity with corruption is not a cognitive heuristic that sycophants to an illegitimate meritocracy can escape without harm. Harms to the commons and commoners are inevitable until the illegitimacy of greed can be systemically addressed through the reversal of regulatory capture and systemic denial of pillage and plunder of the poor by a parasitic oligarchy of sociopaths and psychopaths. Accountability to the "vile maxim" (as enforced by rule of property law) is no virtue.

[@rodfer5406]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@NEMO-NEMO]

Most will not admit it but there are more Americans that prefer the Taminy Hall type of governance instead of a Constitution that was the best attempt to give a country the opportunity to hold dear to the idea that all men are created equal under God! Again, it’s the God part that has been slowly and deliberately eroded from the conscienceless of man.

[@jaydiddat2127]

Not unintended, Ilan Omar is not rich, she will become rich while serving in the HR

[@richardouvrier3078]

Gated communities coming apart.

[@alejandrobolanos4655]

Why was this interview so dismissive to the other guy?

[@christophorfaust2457]

What missing here, is the solution to the problem(s). …and I’m the most dangerous person on the planet because I do:-). Sustainable-Life!!!

[@denversexton7182]

this as silly as young communists thinking observably detrimental concepts are revolutionary. they blur the lines through a lens of power dynamics via oppression vs. oppressor to equate consumers as not recognizing their own self interests. humans being flawed can through ego be clouded in principled decisions but it is not the rule. personally i view meritocracy through a pragmatic approach. take skateboarding for example. can you land the trick or not and how nice is it's stylish appeal to the observer?we can all lie to ourselves and others without consciously recognizing it. from your golden high horse won't you please look down your nose at those you feel lesser to provide your pious assumptions? the politics of envy under wrapped up in parental condescension. how does the pareto principle apply to their extrapolations?

[@dawei666]

Neoliberal democratic is an intergenerational extractive mechanism.

[@0zoneTherapyW0rks]

When does individual achievement cross over into psychopathy? At the point that we no longer consider the consequences of our actions. Unaccountability is corporate personhood's virtue. Mob plutocracy eradicates morality. "Rugged individualism" sounds good on paper, but not in practice. The machines have taken over. The singularity is here. The assault on 'the individual' was the running theme in the film, Rollerball. "In the Global Corporate-controlled world of 2018, the individual free-thinking spirit has been almost completely eradicated by the corporate bulldozer. The Caan character is a man whose individual expressive seed still stirs and under increasing psychological pressures from his corporate puppet masters, begins to recognize and resist the depth of control that is exerted on his own individual destiny and illusion of freedom." kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ6wlHigd812as0

[@koltoncrane3099]

It’s funny to read comments saying merit is bad. What’s bad is not merit necessarily. What’s bad is the last 50 years the US had paper money or fiat as it went bankrupt in 1971. Like two decades of artificially low interest rates should be pointed out. Why do people that promote basically socialism etc. they hate on capitalism but don’t point what that we don’t have free market capitalism but more cronyism Where corporations and governments work together. It’s almost more fascism if you look at blaackrock as they have investors buy stock in etfs but then blackrock votes and can make bud light lose tons of money in order for the ceo To keep his job

[@rcmrcm3370]

Merit is a measured property, which property and who measure it by what means, is where he who has the gold plays large. Fascism is a market tool, again he who as the gold makes the tool.

[@hotstixx]

What meritocracy ?

[@hlynurstefansson9947]

The belief that the smartest person should be in control/at the top, and by implication the least smart will stay at the bottom.

[@hotstixx]

No, i mean what meritocracy as in we are not living in one.

[@hlynurstefansson9947]

Ahh, yeah sorry, i misread this. I think the meritocracy is basically rooted in the wealth of the individual, you can buy your way to the top it seems ?

[@hotstixx]

Yes,i think we live in a bureaucratic society of controlled consumption.Control is the big theme and it is everywhere and immanent in all relations.Control only comes with capital accumulation unless you want to entertain Hume`s paradox ?

[@hotstixx]

The prevailing ideology promotes sharp elbows,betrayal as a matter of course,art as an exemplar of values and head to toe propaganda to muddle ones motivations.The entire system is rancid with intrinsic,necessary and systemic corruption.We need a radical reevalution of our relations to each other and the earth.

[@plekkchand]

And just how is selfishness an example of merit? The term "meritocracy" is a bit of a misnomer. Also, it's a bit depressing how all of these guests seem reflexively obligated to demonstrate their boda fides by denigrating Trump. He becomes almost a kind of automatic nadir. Too simplistic.

[@fhlbadenhorst]

Mmm... what was the plan for the pandemic?

[@justinjameson8767]

There is no bottom-up social-cultural-political-legal-economic/socio-cultural-political-legal-economic movement in the english/british/anglo-saxon-celtic/five-eye/anglospheric world for progress/moving/change/regress for positive advances not negative advances

[@justinjameson8767]

Right-wing conservatives and centrist liberals/centrist libertarians are focused on-and-over social view's-and-values/sensibilities-and-sensitivities/opinion's-and-perspectives/thought's-and-feelings and cultural view's-and-values/sensibilities-and-sensitivities/opinion's-and-perspectives/thought's-and-feelings since they conflict-and-compete on-and-over those view's-and-values/sensibilities-and-sensitivities/opinion's-and-perspectives/thought's-and-feelings but unanimously agree on-and-over neo-liberal/neo-libertarian/neo-conservative white-market corporate capitalist or just neo-liberal/neo-libertarian/neo-consetvative as they're widely-known and commonly-referred to in humanities and social sciences department's of college's as they're widely-known and commonly-referred to as by anglo-saxon-celtic-american's/universities and in academic circles/intellectual circles/intelligentsia circles policies-and-programmes which are practiced in both the so-called developed urbanised post-industrialised western world/western world/first-world especially in the english/british/anglo-saxon-celtic/five-eye/anglospheric world and in the so-called under-developed/developing ruralised industrialising/industrialised eastern world/eastern world/third-world in the former for the last 33 year's-and-decades to 43 year's-and-decades and in the latter for the last 23 year's-and-decades to 33 year's-and-decades army of lawyer's-and-lobbyists true and short-term thinking/reasoning/rationality/logic on-and-over long-term thinking/reasoning/rationality/logic in market economies such as white-market economies specifically white-market capitalist economies more specifically white-market corporate capitalist economies but in-and-amongst each-and-every/any-and-all segment's of society is decay why is there a dwindling child birth-rate continuing monopolisation and creeping automation I was privately educated-and-informed the only thinking/reasoning/rationality/logic you'd be privately educated-and-informed is safety-and-security since certain personalities-and-psychologies/mind-set's have problematic behavior-and-mannerisms and socialising/networking but the curriculum is the same since it's state/government/public-sector written/typed and enforced by the venue you attend so don't under-think/under-reason/under-rationalise/under-logic it think/reason/rationalise/logic it over-think/over-reason/over-rationalise/over-logic it but in the english/british/anglo-saxon-celtic/five-eye/anglospheric world corporate capitalist world everyone is a self-serving meist cunt since it's cutting-edge high-tech fast-paced cut-throat mostly automating stream-lined top-down divide-and-conquer atomised hard-ball economies

[@justinjameson8767]

+Justin Jameson Rarely do I write/type 3 or more comment's successively but these marxoid/keynesian social democratic liberal/libertarian capitalist's are deluded reformist's/evolutionaries/revisionist's they only know narrowly the illusion's confusion's and delusion's or illusion's delusion's and confusion's what the marketised/commercialised/merchant mainstream mass media which they work through-and-under publish broadcast and print incentivises-and-rewards sociopathy/psychopathy and criminalises-and-penalises dissent detraction defection you in essence have to toe the line or be ostracised or worse fired and have a tarnished reputation and now-and-forever onward's-and-upwards in this digital era be branded a pariah a blemish a blight anyway if you live-and-breath in the english/british/anglo-saxon-celtic/five-eye/anglospheric world there is no left-wing marxist/marxian socialist social-cultural-political-legal-economic/socio-cultural-political-legal-economic movement with marxist/marxian communism in mind and unfortunately no union movement even for the broader work-force which includes white-collar's

[@justinjameson8767]

+Justin Jameson If my parent's were banker's money/fiat currency/capital/surplus/medium-of-exchange/legal tender/disposable income and parenting style would of mirrored my school staff/teacher's teaching style however they're still ethnic men anyway many-and-most people/person's are christian in name only new age spiritual but not religious free-thinking cultural christian agnostic-atheist intelligent design pro-secular pro-anti-clerical as are many-and-most so-called self-described self-proclaiming-and-self-professing marxist's/marxian's who aren't marxist/marxian thinker's-and-tinkerers or revolutionary marxist/marxian socialist's with marxist/marxian communism in name only they're marxist/marxian in name only marxist/marxian-minded or marxist/marxian-lite which is either progressive/so-called socialistic's or marxoid/keynesian social democratic liberal/libertarian capitalist's so in essence in today's real-world economics which is modern-world economics built-based-and-bound to new-world economics so social democratic liberal/libertarian capitalism versus social darwinist liberal/libertarian capitalism or adequately-and-accurately appropriately-and-accordingly social darwinist liberal/libertarian/conservative capitalism

[@justinjameson8767]

+Justin Jameson White-market corporate capitalism is built-based-and-bound to neo-liberal/neo-libertarian/neo-conservative white-market corporate capitalism or just neo-liberalism/neo-libertarianism/neo-conservatism as it's widely-known and commonly-referred to as in humanities and social sciences department's in college's as they're widely-known and commonly-referred to by anglo-saxon-celtic-american's/universities which in-turn is built-based-and-bound to social darwinist liberal/libertarian capitalism or adequately-and-accurately appropriately-and-accordingly social darwinist liberal/libertarian/conservative capitalism that's the bottom-up mind-set/mentality which manifest's itself top-down as policies-and-programmes so they shunt-and-shaft established political-legal-economoc institution's shirk-and-shrug to the general public whilst fomenting-and-fostering this mind-set/mentality upon successive generation's through-and-under neo-liberal/neo-libertarian/neo-conservative white-market corporate capitalist's it's not blatantly obvious but it's blatantly observable so instead of being a lazy liberal looney libertarian crazy conservative or troll or a troll who publicly-and-professionally pretends by portraying themselves as a lazy liberal looney libertarian crazy conservative or troll recognise-and-acknowledge the objectively-observable materialist fact on-and-over subjective reality-and-morality or are there too many blue-collar personalities-and-psychologies/mind-set's or mindless-meandering dumb-and-docile yabbering/yammering/yackering yobbo's/yahoo's with their boisterous bumbling babbling/blabbering dopey-and-dogmatic?

[@Yor_gamma_ix_bae]

You mean class warfare. Blueprints are nice, but where exactly is the power to wield those blueprints? the inability to realize your own similarities with those you oppose might interfere with the ability of your expertise to have an effect. Its a bit like how media companies picks good dictators and bad ones..albeit by omission... or good rebels or bad ones...etc etc. They know how to make these choices, it's within their expertise or so they have been told consistently. Who is the worst culprit ? A murderer on deathrow, who killed his wife , a crime of passion... Or leaders who sign death warrants based on cellphone metadata via drones from across the world. According to military documents, 90% of the casualties are civilians. Which is worth the death penalty, or is just a mistake, or ignorance of international law...or UN articles we drafted with europe... Why is it that your experience shows you a problem, that most see as the way it is. How much of what you believe is a symptom of that culture, without the context of direct experience to change your mind. Take former vice president dick cheney, he has a lesbian daughter, he bucks the party line. Another word for education that we have for opposing governments is called re-education. Which is a more accurate pejorative to describe american culture especially at the level of its elite institutions. Where messianic complexes are called philanthropy. Systemic issues around us tend to be apart of our story as much as what is clear to us in others. It is often difficult to confront the insignificance of our own personal legacy, when trying to figure out why our peers have left legacy so terrible behind them that it would be impossible to point fingers. It would be hard to go against one's own interests, for once in this apparent reality... Especially when the sort of "changes" called for have never been so tightly controlled by technologies and extra legal organization. These sorts of changes only happen via overwhelming fear of guillotines and mobs at the door. Should read the journals of honoary aryans who were spared by hitler trying to deal with both their academic position and personal relationships having led them to the point. Hitler was on the right side of things for most of this educated group, across the globe...so was franco in spain... so was pinochet in chile.. baptista in cuba.... Its as simple as not seeing black kid yelling at you on the street the same as a white one. Some might even excuse one of the group a bit, because once they too were young assholes. While in that moment cognitively looking for a reason to define the other as some new uncouth threat. You might even have many close family or friends who could be trump in so many ways he wishes he could be. Would you help put them into prison for economic crimes over the many others who might also be as responsible? Or are you a new sort of homo sapien, who understands best...a little guy who rose as a rebel, above the chaff...for whom justice changes in definition when faced with incomplete applications. Of course you are nothing like the wife caught helping her husband hide the baby he killed. Those inhuman animals...not like you.

[@bircruz555]

Moated elite, gated neighborhoods, way to sing on the way to the grave. Enjoy the freak show.

[@richardouvrier3078]

Citizens United, Nader Case, unintended consequences of freedom of expression.

[@scottmorrison466]

No one believes it anymore.

[@JukeboyJoeAxford]

14:30 Trumpty Dumpty's herd has not changed it's thinking, they still believe anything coming out of his mouth.

[@totonow6955]

"Talking to GUYS about how bad things are."

[@legalfictionnaturalfact3969]

Meritocracy doesn't breed greed because those who are found to be greedy will be shunned from projects and endeavors. When it comes to merit, one's character and virtue is of the utmost importance. Either do right or be excluded by individuals who notice until you have no one left.

[@rcmrcm3370]

Merit is a label for measured property/properties; Which property and who measure it by what means, is where the Golden Rule applies: he who has the gold makes the rules.

[@legalfictionnaturalfact3969]

@@rcmrcm3370 golden principle - treat others as you'd like to be treated. merit - the quality of being particularly good or worthy, especially so as to deserve praise or reward. Either do right or be excluded by individuals who notice until you have no one left.

[@nalomike6066]

NameAtrocity? Name recognition, lacking social cognition.

[@sweetlou1335]

Meritocracy ??? hahahahaha Nowadays most peeps "generate' their wealth from inheritances. Merit gots nuthin to do with it

[@dinsel9691]

That is literally his point. Meritocracy worked well for his generation. And now that Boomer Generation that benefited the most from a fairly meritocratic system growing up, are the ones slowly dismantling it for their own short term benefit.

[@kylem.funderburgh5378]

I got nothing from inheritance... I'm very average middle-class. If there is one of me, there is probably another 60 million... Nothing TO inherit.

[@richardouvrier3078]

Yale Law School. Pretty loathsome place, it seems.

[@tomski2671]

Terrible title. Merit should not be attacked unless it's criminal merit or explotitive merit, which is exactly the type of merit they discussed.

[@tomski2671]

If you have a problem with what constitutes merit, that's one thing and we can discuss that. To me and I believe most people merit is synonymous with competence. You can start whatever hierarchy you want, so long as it does not aim to destroy existing functional/productive hierarchies.

[@bkbland1626]

Capitalism is inherently exploitative.

[@walterhicks5520]

lol....WRONG! Most people know meritocracy in this era for what it is,...spoiled elite douche bags doing for their own and slanting accepted ideologies/beliefs to favor themselves/their own. I don't know what bubble you live in, but this video SHOULD have popped it,...and you just clearly displayed it did NOT. Did you not listen? Are you NOT listening now?

[@tomski2671]

lol.... WRONG, YOU must not have been listening. If the concept of meritocracy has been corrupted, it needs to restored. I have no love for "spoiled elite douche bags" and their corruption. However there is another group of douche bags that want to do away with true merit (competence), mainly out of their own envy, and they should not be allowed to succeed.

[@walterhicks5520]

Tom Ski Stop simpleton. You can not 'restore' what never existed.

[@carterillinois]

Fix your sound.

[@mns8732]

He's a right wing economic pundit.

[@richardouvrier3078]

Just go back to IQ tests.

[@Who-vt9oh]

I think it's reasonable to assume that human development has a ceiling. It's unreasonable to expect conditions for humans to just continue getting better, forever. It's probably not realistic to expect that every new generation will be able to have it better than the last. Plus, wealth doesn't necessarily make everything better. People born into wealth can often end up kind of, well, weak. Luxury and comfort don't necessarily promote growth and improvement the way adversity does. People hate adversity while they're going through it, and thus they think it's good to want to protect their child from it, but they fail to realize that the adversity they went through made them stronger. I think it's natural to want comfort and luxury for your children, but you have to realize it can make them weak. Honestly, I think the pursuit of wealth is a dead end. We would be much better off pursuing health, well being, fortitude, strength, enlightenment, discovery, etc. This myopic focus on wealth is making us weaker as a species. This desire to be rich enough to live a life of luxury and comfort, free from adversity or challenge is killing us.

[@RevolutionaryThinking]

15:38 Andrew Yang.

[@andtam008]

Meritocracy breeds greed? Democracy legalizes greed and corruption. The best example is USA.

[@cybernat10]

When and if a all or partial benefits of a merit is inherited by a stupid offspring to get him/her advance in life ,it becomes aristocracy.

[@gostavoadolfos2023]

The title should be: when Liberalism become subhuman leftism.

[@Aengrod]

Blah blah blah. Truth is you turned away from Christianity, and this is the result.

[@CHill-qn3kr]

Aengrod When was America’s Christian renaissance?? Slavey, Jim Crow, Redlining, Separate But Equal, Fight for Civil Rights well into the 1960s . Are you delusional??