Friday, February 13, 2009
Aristocracy and Meritocracy
Blogger Cassandra Goldman proposes the intriguing thesis (via American Monarchist) that a hereditary aristocracy is actually the ally, not the enemy, of meritocracy: that is, a society where ability and work are truly valued and rewarded. Inclined to be skeptical of the word "meritocracy" as it's been more commonly used to oppose aristocracy and monarchy, I'd never thought of it this way, but having read her article I'm naturally inclined to agree.
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4 comments:
Truly an excellent essay. Added the author to my list of RSS feeds...
Thank you for the link, sir!
The author completely disregards the corruption inherent in governments whose operation claims to be the equalization of status and wealth. That corruption is what drives inequality as it is a basis of power the intellectual elite may abuse at will. If you look through the pages of history you will find that the closer a society came to a utopian existence the more it did so on the backs of some social group and was recorded as a great society by historians none the less. The fact that it would take a massive government to intervene as arbiter in all matters of inequality brings with it massive corruption as well. This is a self defeating goal. The framers of the US constitution recognized the dangers inherent in men, their insatiable appetite for power, as being the one thing that no people could or should suffer despite all the assurances of benevolence and good intentions. The myth therefore is that there is a better way to tackle natural diversity and that is by empowering a superior authority purported to be immune from defect and corruption.
I would rather suffer fate and struggle freely than suffer under the thumb of unbridled fiat.
I don't see how "A pen"'s comment constitutes a response to what Cassandra Goldman actually wrote. However since it was posted over two years ago I doubt I'll be getting an explanation.
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