The tyranny of merit
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0:01 - 0:04Here's a question we should all be asking:
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0:04 - 0:05What went wrong?
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0:05 - 0:07Not just with the pandemic
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0:07 - 0:09but with our civic life.
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0:10 - 0:14What brought us to this polarized,
rancorous political moment? -
0:15 - 0:17In recent decades,
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0:17 - 0:21the divide between winners and losers
has been deepening, -
0:21 - 0:23poisoning our politics,
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0:23 - 0:25setting us apart.
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0:25 - 0:29This divide is partly about inequality.
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0:30 - 0:34But it's also about the attitudes
toward winning and losing -
0:34 - 0:36that have come with it.
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0:36 - 0:38Those who landed on top
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0:38 - 0:42came to believe that their success
was their own doing, -
0:42 - 0:44a measure of their merit,
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0:45 - 0:49and that those who lost out
had no one to blame but themselves. -
0:50 - 0:53This way of thinking about success
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0:53 - 0:56arises from a seemingly
attractive principle. -
0:57 - 0:59If everyone has an equal chance,
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0:59 - 1:02the winners deserve their winnings.
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1:03 - 1:07This is the heart
of the meritocratic ideal. -
1:08 - 1:11In practice, of course, we fall far short.
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1:13 - 1:16Not everybody has an equal chance to rise.
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1:17 - 1:22Children born to poor families
tend to stay poor when they grow up. -
1:23 - 1:28Affluent parents are able to pass
their advantages onto their kids. -
1:28 - 1:32At Ivy League universities, for example,
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1:32 - 1:35there are more students
from the top one percent -
1:35 - 1:40than from the entire bottom half
of the country combined. -
1:42 - 1:46But the problem isn't only
that we fail to live up -
1:46 - 1:49to the meritocratic
principles we proclaim. -
1:50 - 1:52The ideal itself is flawed.
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1:53 - 1:54It has a dark side.
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1:55 - 1:59Meritocracy is corrosive
of the common good. -
2:00 - 2:02It leads to hubris among the winners
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2:04 - 2:07and humiliation among those who lose out.
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2:08 - 2:14It encourages the successful
to inhale too deeply of their success, -
2:14 - 2:19to forget the luck and good fortune
that helped them on their way. -
2:19 - 2:23And it leads them to look down
on those less fortunate, -
2:23 - 2:26less credentialed than themselves.
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2:27 - 2:30This matters for politics.
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2:30 - 2:35One of the most potent sources
of the populous backlash -
2:35 - 2:41is the sense among many working people
that elites look down on them. -
2:42 - 2:44It's a legitimate complaint.
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2:45 - 2:50Even as globalization
brought deepening inequality -
2:50 - 2:51and stagnant wages,
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2:53 - 2:57its proponents offered workers
some bracing advice. -
2:58 - 3:02"If you want to compete and win
in the global economy, -
3:02 - 3:03go to college."
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3:04 - 3:07"What you earn depends on what you learn."
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3:07 - 3:09"You can make it if you try."
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3:10 - 3:16These elites miss the insult
implicit in this advice. -
3:17 - 3:19If you don't go to college,
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3:19 - 3:23if you don't flourish in the new economy,
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3:23 - 3:25your failure is your fault.
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3:26 - 3:27That's the implication.
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3:28 - 3:34It's no wonder many working people
turned against meritocratic elites. -
3:35 - 3:36So what should we do?
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3:37 - 3:41We need to rethink three aspects
of our civic life. -
3:41 - 3:43The role of college,
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3:43 - 3:44the dignity of work
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3:44 - 3:46and the meaning of success.
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3:47 - 3:51We should begin by rethinking
the role of universities -
3:51 - 3:54as arbiters of opportunity.
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3:56 - 4:00For those of us who spend our days
in the company of the credentialed, -
4:00 - 4:04it's easy to forget a simple fact:
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4:05 - 4:09Most people don't have
a four-year college degree. -
4:09 - 4:13In fact, nearly two-thirds
of Americans don't. -
4:14 - 4:18So it is folly to create an economy
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4:18 - 4:23that makes a university diploma
a necessary condition -
4:23 - 4:27of dignified work and a decent life.
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4:27 - 4:31Encouraging people to go
to college is a good thing. -
4:31 - 4:34Broadening access
for those who can't afford it -
4:34 - 4:35is even better.
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4:36 - 4:38But this is not a solution to inequality.
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4:39 - 4:44We should focus less on arming people
for meritocratic combat, -
4:44 - 4:48and focus more on making life better
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4:48 - 4:51for people who lack a diploma
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4:51 - 4:55but who make essential
contributions to our society. -
4:56 - 4:58We should renew the dignity of work
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4:58 - 5:01and place it at the center
of our politics. -
5:01 - 5:06We should remember that work
is not only about making a living, -
5:06 - 5:10it's also about contributing
to the common good -
5:10 - 5:13and winning recognition for doing so.
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5:13 - 5:17Robert F. Kennedy put it well
half a century ago. -
5:17 - 5:21Fellowship, community, shared patriotism.
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5:21 - 5:25These essential values do not come
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5:25 - 5:28from just buying and consuming
goods together. -
5:29 - 5:31They come from dignified employment,
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5:31 - 5:33at decent pay.
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5:33 - 5:37The kind of employment
that enables us to say, -
5:37 - 5:39"I helped to build this country.
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5:40 - 5:44I am a participant
in its great public ventures." -
5:45 - 5:48This civic sentiment
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5:48 - 5:52is largely missing
from our public life today. -
5:53 - 5:57We often assume that the money people make
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5:57 - 6:00is the measure of their contribution
to the common good. -
6:01 - 6:03But this is a mistake.
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6:03 - 6:06Martin Luther King Jr. explained why.
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6:07 - 6:11Reflecting on a strike
by sanitation workers -
6:11 - 6:13in Memphis, Tennessee,
-
6:13 - 6:15shortly before he was assassinated,
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6:16 - 6:18King said,
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6:18 - 6:23"The person who picks up our garbage
is, in the final analysis, -
6:23 - 6:25as significant as the physician,
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6:27 - 6:29for if he doesn't do his job,
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6:29 - 6:31diseases are rampant.
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6:32 - 6:35All labor has dignity."
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6:36 - 6:38Today's pandemic makes this clear.
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6:39 - 6:42It reveals how deeply we rely
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6:42 - 6:45on workers we often overlook.
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6:46 - 6:47Delivery workers,
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6:47 - 6:49maintenance workers,
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6:49 - 6:51grocery store clerks,
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6:51 - 6:53warehouse workers,
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6:53 - 6:54truckers,
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6:54 - 6:56nurse assistants,
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6:56 - 6:57childcare workers,
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6:57 - 6:59home health care providers.
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7:00 - 7:04These are not the best-paid
or most honored workers. -
7:05 - 7:09But now, we see them as essential workers.
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7:10 - 7:14This is a moment for a public debate
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7:14 - 7:18about how to bring their pay
and recognition -
7:18 - 7:22into better alignment
with the importance of their work. -
7:22 - 7:29It is also time for a moral,
even spiritual, turning, -
7:29 - 7:32questioning our meritocratic hubris.
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7:34 - 7:38Do I morally deserve the talents
that enable me to flourish? -
7:39 - 7:40Is it my doing
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7:40 - 7:44that I live in a society
that prizes the talents -
7:44 - 7:46I happen to have?
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7:46 - 7:48Or is that my good luck?
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7:49 - 7:53Insisting that my success is my due
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7:53 - 7:57makes it hard to see myself
in other people's shoes. -
7:58 - 8:01Appreciating the role of luck in life
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8:01 - 8:03can prompt a certain humility.
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8:04 - 8:08There but for the accident of birth,
or the grace of God, -
8:08 - 8:10or the mystery of fate,
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8:10 - 8:11go I.
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8:12 - 8:15This spirit of humility
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8:15 - 8:17is the civic virtue we need now.
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8:18 - 8:21It's the beginning of a way back
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8:21 - 8:25from the harsh ethic of success
that drives us apart. -
8:25 - 8:30It points us beyond the tyranny of merit
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8:30 - 8:34to a less rancorous,
more generous public life.
- Title:
- The tyranny of merit
- Speaker:
- Michael Sandel
- Description:
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What accounts for our polarized public life, and how can we begin to heal it? Political philosopher Michael Sandel offers a surprising answer: those who have flourished need to look in the mirror. He explores how "meritocratic hubris" leads many to believe their success is their own doing and to look down on those who haven't made it, provoking resentment and inflaming the divide between "winners" and "losers" in the new economy. Hear why we need to reconsider the meaning of success and recognize the role of luck in order to create a less rancorous, more generous civic life.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 08:47
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for The tyranny of merit | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for The tyranny of merit | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for The tyranny of merit | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for The tyranny of merit | ||
Erin Gregory approved English subtitles for The tyranny of merit | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for The tyranny of merit | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for The tyranny of merit | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for The tyranny of merit |