The problem isn't the 'merit' it's the 'ocracy' (2019)
There is a sleight-of-hand in &quot;meritocracy&quot; evinced by the Scott Alexander quote--we ask &quot;who should do surgery, the best surgeon or the worst?&quot; and agree that surgeons should be chosen by &quot;merit&quot;, or better yet, by their instrumental value to the task at hand.<p>The trick comes in when we switch without acknowledgement to describing <i>the system for the distribution of wealth and status</i>.<p>This kind of &quot;meritocracy&quot; is more like if we held an arm-wrestling tournament, declared the victor to be our new feudal lord, the next 6 runners up to be knights, and everyone else to be peasants. Our position in this new society was based on &quot;merit&quot;, but that can&#x27;t <i>necessarily</i> justify the difference between nobles and serfs.<p>We could even re-run the tournament every year. We could make sure no child gets extra time in the weight-room because of her noble parents. We could decide that arm-wrestling is stupid and brutish and so, in a glorious revolution, switch to speed chess. None of it would address the question of justice.