To: cosmicforce who wrote (94261 ) 1/21/2005 2:41:34 PM From: average joe Read Replies (1) | Respond to "The word "meritocracy" has often been employed as a pejorative smear against the system of capitalism, which, claimed the egalitarians, establishes the self-contradictory notion of a caste system based on merit (!), which supposedly elevates inherently "gifted" men into positions of "dominance" over the inherently "deprived of mind." Aside from the obvious mysticism of the deterministic notion of inherited intelligence (every man's knowledge and skill, just as every man's profit, are products of his own effort; he may inherit a more reactive brain just as he may inherit a greater share of raw capital, but his intelligence, the synthesis of the means and ends of thought, is attainable only through his volitional choice and self-exertion, just as presently possessed money does not automatically and inexplicably generate more of itself), the present usage of the term has effaced and smeared what has been a legitimate and benevolent effect of the capitalist system. In the realm where free trade is let alone, both in goods and ideas, the men with the amplest knowledge, most efficient industry, and most fervent motivation, are the ones who succeed in enriching themselves and rising to a position of economic power. This, the legitimate meaning of "meritocracy," is not that of a caste system, but a fully free society in which every individual can expect to advance, not by birth or by pull, but only through the effort he exerts. (The wealthy heir may be endowed with lavish wealth by his industrious ancestors under a laissez-faire system, but that does not alter the fact that he must utilize his own ingenuity in order to amplify the riches he already has.)"solohq.com
