My father was orphaned in the Great Depression and I was the first person in my family to attend high school. I went on to get a BA and MBA from a Top-10 public University in 1990. That MBA cost me roughly $8,000 30 years ago. Today, it would cost me $138,000 (I checked.) I couldn't possibly earn those degrees today. Professor Sandel is absolutely right, but this clip doesn't look at the rest of the story. With my increased earning power I MORE than paid back the public investment made in my education through my payroll taxes. FAR more. Apart from questions of fairness and decency, this nation is blighting its own future when it fails to educate enough of its own children for the jobs of the future.

@eedaesung5555

3 жыл бұрын

Martha S exactly. Another price of the puzzle; another American reality.

@jjgogojag6371

3 жыл бұрын

Hear Hear

@ianchandley

3 жыл бұрын

I got my BSc 30 years ago through a combination of family help and working part time, and left a top NY university with only $10,000 in student loans, which were paid off quite easily in a few years. 8 years ago I got my MSc. from a top 10 English university - cost me $4,000/year for it (it was charged to my credit card at the start of each term...). A comparable Master’s from an American university would’ve cost me about $110,000, a sum I couldn’t DREAM of paying off! The USA is slipping badly in its Social Progress rankings, it’s now 28th in the world with its average basic education levels on par with Mongolia...... Any money I have left over after Covid is going to be invested in countries like Singapore, Finland, Sweden: all of whom are at the top of the Social Progress/Development charts. An invested country is a wealthy country!

@jjgogojag6371

3 жыл бұрын

I beleive we are being drainedwashed. We are not putting the earned income where it supposed to go. It is going to scavengers whom have never worked. As a nursing assistant to a certified nursing assistant to a three year RN degree or diploma nurse to a bachelor's degree in nursing ( diploma school are private and very expensive at the time more that state schools) I know what work means. In high school for four hours of my shift I had 50 pts. Granted the restraint and psychotropic era. But, as a charge nurse I could easily have 100 patients. In reveiw of my life it dawned on me the long term care facilities were traded on the stockmarket. My payroll check as a young person shuffled owners. Now what I think, thats where the poor business practices of the eighties came from. Selling buying I suspect off shoring funds to bankrupsies, many area of funds to manipulate ( Medicare Private pay and Medicaid etc), sources to hide and shuffle money. Then to draining every system that they can. Speculation only....late 1970s on...............

@jjgogojag6371

3 жыл бұрын

Addendum...now this administration has dummy downed regulation. Before the CoViD-19. Decreasing education for job procurement. Our govenor followed suit of the prez recommendation hire hire hire without the training or extended it out. Let's not forget asking sexual orientations to get federal funding, shocking the questions.... Also, we are one of the few countries that do NOT do TB immunizations. This administration has removed annual TB testing for nurses...I always worked with high risk so I pay for my annual test still... A habit or not....? I am for the seperation or CoViD-19 care and testing centers. Simular to the seperate tuberculosis and syphilis hospitals of yesteryear. That should have been done when we had partial not full draconian public health lockdown.. plus, don't put testing in the area of all other animals too. Specifically, if a human virus or even a animal source. Zero spread.

Notice he never said why or how we don't live-up. He basically points to Optics. He also never tells you why it's hard to rise in the US or UK.

The Prof. left out luck. I grew up lower middle class, worked my way thru college in the 1960's, went to law school on GI bill, retired at 50 yrs (now 75 and well off). Fortune smiled on me along the way. I watched others get bad breaks in business or health or whatever. I am amazed every day how lucky I have been. Things could have gone the other way. However, many commenters mention how expensive higher education is now compared to the '60s and '70s, and this is a good point also.

@effexon

Жыл бұрын

thus indian people who can get dirt cheap degree in their country, then immigrate alone or more commonly as staff in a company, have immense leverage over US citizen simply due to cost factors. Im not saying those people are poor or even middle class by any means, but even among wealthy US people coming from abroad skipping these most expensive phases of life is huge benefit.

@epiphanyperry1877

11 ай бұрын

Not just luck. Black veterans were denied access to the GI bill. They were often targeted and forced right back into the new slavery system of prison labor

@You_CantHandleTheTruth

27 күн бұрын

A great man once said, the harder you work, the more luck you seem to have. 😊 You probably manufactured your own luck with an excellent work ethic.

Finally, someone besides poor, working poor, and working people, said it aloud. This intellectual examination is honest and timely. Thank YOU!!

@davidlafleche1142

3 жыл бұрын

Meritocracy is perfectly fair. If I ran a college, I would never even consider anybody's "color" or "gender." Above all, I would carefully screen all job applications, and never allow a Communist to hold any position.

@davidlafleche1142

3 жыл бұрын

@vincent ang Yes, like Joe Biden forcing Ukraine to give Hunter a big job for which he wasn't qualified.

@davidlafleche1142

3 жыл бұрын

@vincent ang How do you know?

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Sell victimhood is all liberals know how to do.

Wow! That explained the mentality of people like Bill O’Riley and Herman Cain. They said that if you’re poor, that’s your own fault.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

It’s true. If you are rich or poor in America- you earned it.

@Damesanglante

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz Either you were born rich or you drank all the koolaid.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@Damesanglante ahhh no. 90% of American millionaires are self made, not inherited. No one that is rich or poor in America cannot accept the truth that their own actions caused that status. Nice try dude.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@Damesanglante notice- you seem incapable of the most basic analysis of facts? Yep.

Someone once said something to the effect that if hard work was the route to prosperity, the women of Africa would all be millionaires...

@kingofalldabblers

3 жыл бұрын

You are confused. Hard work is a necessary ingredient to success. It is not a sufficient one. Nobody every said everyone who works hard will be a rich. Infact it's the exact opposite. Everyone who is rich worked hard. Steve Jobs and Barak Obama didn't become successful working part-time. They worked their asses of and they made it. Hard work is a necessary ingredient to success, not the only ingredient.

@Eric-ye5yz

3 жыл бұрын

I agree with that, it also applies to children of Asia who walk long distances to school in the hot sun. People who claim their success is entirely due to their own efforts are arrogant.

@margaretking4217

3 жыл бұрын

@@kingofalldabblers I disagree that "everyone who is rich worked hard." There are people who inherited wealth and became rich without working hard. Also while they are usually workers before they win, what about lottery winners? Sorry but buying a lottery ticket does not count as working hard.

@kingofalldabblers

3 жыл бұрын

@@margaretking4217 so people who play the lottery don't work hard? I think my father in law who was a union machinist for 30 years and plays the numbers every day would disagree. And as far as inherited wealth do you know what percentage of the richest people in America inherited their wealth? I'll wait while you look that up. I'm hourly.

@DanielSonghere1454

3 жыл бұрын

Phil Russo Hello Phil, Though it sounds lovely, necessary and sufficient conditions imply causality. Some are born into fame and others lucked into perfect genetic lottery; many others were just in the right place at the right time, blind luck so to speak. This alone disproves it: ‘not all success people “worked hard”’. Furthermore, we don’t really care about hard work- we care about the right kind of work. Efficient work & innovation. Hard work to success is very persuasive and indeed motivating; but it is also an old/outdated mantra which is viewed as increasingly facile in the context of modern workplace.

Used to be called "life chances" in the early days of social theory. Also using the Ivy league as some sort of measure is scientifically questionable as they are inherently nepotistic. You will also have huge advantages in growing up in an intellectual household full of books and parents relating their experiences and lessons, setting expectations, in the aristocratic world, an enculturation of sorts that lies outside of institutional understanding that translates well into SAT scores. Forcing people into these demanding environments with 200 fewer SAT points has led to disaster and dropouts when they would have succeeded in great non-Ivy league environments.

@kenc2257

3 жыл бұрын

Are you saying that institutes of higher education admit unqualified students?! Not true. You seem to be implying that "some" qualified students should be naturally/humanely steered toward non-top-tier colleges/universities--because that is their capacity. That is some elitist BS. Daniel Markovits has said that Ivy League institutions (because they get such tremendous tax breaks on their endowments) are--at least partially--successful because they pour much more resources into their students (not just facilities/curriculum, but also direct professor attention). Rather than continuing to be brutally selective in "yield", Markovits also says that the Ivy League should double their enrollment. That would seem to be a more equitable solution. In any case, top SAT/ACT scores are only mildly correlated with so-called college success. And correlation is (obviously) NOT causation.

@robwealer5416

3 жыл бұрын

Fair enough... it's just that a majority of those in this group go on academic probation in their first year, struggle under a really heavy workload and reading list demand when they might have found equal success at other reputable institutions.

@starleyshelton2245

10 ай бұрын

@@kenc2257 Actually SAT ACT scores highly correlate to success. On average, SAT scores added 15% more predictive power above high school grades alone when attempting to understand how students will perform in college. The reason is they match PREPARATION AND ABILITY to schools. The fact is that would put them behind at some schools resulting in higher drop out and failure rates. Whereas another school could be on the same PREPARATION level and bring the student to a higher understanding and end capability in their chosen field. What it comes down to is this. A person with a 8th grade preparation would likely fail in an environment addressing a 12th grade audience. Yet persons at a school matching their preparedness could end up equally competent in expertise at graduation. Persons entering any school with less preparation or scores are far more likely to be frustrated and leave their desired major, or even drop out, than those who enter prepared for the level of instruction.

I don't deserve anything, I earn everything through wit and strife.

A person's birthright is not the results of chance, it is the results of CAUSALITY not privilege. You exist as you are as a direct result of the countless choices your ancestors made, therefore you justly deserve your birthright. That being your innate talents, your personal achievements and your family inheritance. A poor person in another country could have been born here in the United States, had their parents moved here before they had a child. Take that back as many generations as you like. It still holds true. Recipients of affirmative action are not entitled to the benefits they receive. The outcomes do not reflect the decisions made by their ancestors.

I wrote about this in my undergrad back 2010 - I looked at economic and social mobility in USA vs India which has a cast system. India had a higher mobility rate than the US. Blew my damn mind.

@rohanindra6401

2 жыл бұрын

I doubt that.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

That’s ridiculous. And if it were true, the USA would have massive numbers of Indian tech workers. My god. You liberals are so misinformed

@martyr_lightsilver1833

9 ай бұрын

Sounds like you were just a terrible and biased researcher.

@S.A.White...

4 ай бұрын

​Sources? for you not op. Not sure why you think they are biased use sources to prove me wrong please ​@@martyr_lightsilver1833

Thanks

I think there is 'some' truth to this premise. There is a lot of luck and opportunity that is not distributed equally. But I have also seen or experienced those that don't take things like education terribly seriously. I am not speaking specifically to ivy league schools, just general education, which makes them more marketable and able to obtain higher wage professional jobs. They also need to have the social and communication skills, which are likely not taught very well, or they are not getting at home. Again, there is a lot to do with opportunity that can shape what is available to each person, but it also takes some personal ambition and making positive choices to make your skills valuable. There are a ton of external things that will do a lot to fostering these academic and social skills. Stable homes, good (and safe) general education, food and health security. I think if we can provide a level foundation in those areas, we empower each citizen with the perch on which they can reach their full potential. Not everyone will be the next Jeff Bezos, but more people will imagine good ideas and make a more educated and community oriented person cable of creating that stable foundation for the next generation.

@squishsquall3159

3 жыл бұрын

Mako that luck and opportunity can also be referred to as “privilege”

@MM-sf3rl

3 жыл бұрын

Squish Squall That’s right. Being white (even though I’m dyslexia and have challenges) I am already on third base from the start.

@alexcipriani6003

3 жыл бұрын

I disagree with you on the education part, not that education is not important it is; but the only wealthy and not filled with anxiety people I know are those that took their faith into their own hands. By that I mean they haven’t fallen for the climbing the corporate ladder 9 to 5 trap. At the same time I know smart people PhDs that are completely miserable, overwhelmed with student loans that work their ass off making just enough to stay afloat

@RMT192

3 жыл бұрын

I like what you said. But how did George W Bush get into Harvard when he never read a book while he was there? And then become President? I know some things that rich people get handed to them on a plate which is sickening and the worst thing is they are ashamed of the opportunities they have access to: the crazy wages they get paid for the easiest summer jobs, getting driver's licences when going to other countries without even having one in their own country etc, but then they are not willing to be taxed at a higher rate. The rich really need to be forced somehow to reinvest their wealth back into the prosperity of those with less cash than them because it isn't doing them any good either - few of them are happy with all this wealth. And how many of the rich and wealthy get there is just blatant theft of middle and working class peoples hard-earned money.

@flemmingbisgaard521

3 жыл бұрын

That’s all well and good but as the cost of education over the last few decades has become unattainable by poor why bother trying. The rich have trouble paying and they are oblivious

You can't discredit people who worked their asses off to be at the top thinking they deserve it. That would fault on evolution and survival.

Other than Amanpour mentioning Sadel's "The Tyranny of Merit," there is no citing of the book in the YT's listings below the video.

Capitalism starts out with merit, because it needs merit to grow; unfortunately, it ends with inherited wealth, aristocracy, and inequality, because its growth stage has ceased; only death awaits. (Let us remember stages of human life, empire, systems, etc: growth, maturation, exploration, consolidation, peak wealth, decline, collapse.) Yes, all but the wisest of us resist this cycle, but it is universal. Good luck to you wonderful people out there; take care of your precious lives.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Yet- 90% of American millennials are self made. So much for your argument

There's the issue of Gatekeepers too, the polarization in politics creates a dynamic where moderates are rejected through purity testing on both sides. Businesses become like little dictatorships and the larger system is easily undermined.

Hi Aman and Co, I like your content. I love watching your videos.

Who determines what merit is? Oh that's right, the people who are already at the top. Meaning merit simply related to success no matter how that success was achieved.

I simply could not agree more. I live in a well to do network dominated area of the Maine coast and just about every upwardly mobile opportunity in this area is far more dependent upon who you are and who you network with than upon any particular capability or skill set. Although I do not agree with 99% of her beliefs Ayn Rand was writing about this meritocracy hypocrisy problem decades ago in her novel Atlas Shrugged.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

That’s just garbage. If don’t have very good skills-who you know is not sustainable - except in politics

@boatman222345

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz All that's needed to refute your statement is the fact that Ronald Reagan and Trump were both President. neither of them could tie their shoes without help and yet….

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@boatman222345 lol. If you compare the POLICIES of trump or Reagan to Biden- anyone with a brain would reject Biden. You ignorant fool

Dah! This is known since forever. The line between poverty and financial success is very thick. It’s literally swimming against the currant. But it’s something that has to be bone to get ahead. Very few actually get somewhere but the majority are swimming for the rest of their life’s. There is also profit to be made in having people constantly trying.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Yet. 90% of American millionaires are made in each new generation. So clearly- if you want to succeed- hard work is rewarded

@Damesanglante

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz This has been proven false many times. Look it up and stay out of echo-chambers.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@Damesanglante nope. The largest independent study of millionaires in America was completed in 2018, as outlined in the book “everyday millionaire”. Sorry dude, following liberals like sandel only expose your lack of understanding and disregard for truth.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@Damesanglante you still can’t support your lies can you? Lol.

Yas!!!!!!! Everything he is spilling is the real tea!!!!!

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

No. It’s just a victimhood mentality. Sick

cant believe someone would allow themselves to be called a philosopher, what a joke

Professor Sandel's argument is hauntingly and painfully true. It is almost scary to admit it.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

No it’s not. Our whole country is built on meritocracy. Calling it tyrannical is laughably insane.

The 1% have unlearned their Christian duty to carry the mantle of stewardship.

@MM-sf3rl

3 жыл бұрын

Peter Yes! Interesting that poor parenting is usually assigned to the poor, single house hold, low income; but it is also the 1% who’s poor parenting and lack the propriety for universal well being.

@eedaesung5555

3 жыл бұрын

Peter Not sure they ever had a Christian duty? Most people at the top use religion as lip service to get people like you to believe that that’s their reason for doing things.

@jjgogojag6371

3 жыл бұрын

Historically, I feel some tried. My mothers great great uncle was a harvard graduate and a abolishonist..He helped start the first college in the Kansas territory. He and his Harvard peers bought up Kansas to make it a free state. He surveyed all of Kansas into Nebraska. Ultimately, he was kicked out and discredited by a Nebraska territorial capital head surveyor for incompetence..Mr. Calhoun was proslavery.......my mothers uncle also, continued to contribute to the college .....An educator first. A northern whig the educators or the dawning of the republican party. A antislavery proeducation and fiscally conservative party..... The worst battle was in Le Compton Ks. This Is why Lincoln is named Lincoln Nebraska south of the Platte....Northern land rushes of...... I digressed historically, the eductors did want to educate the masses....that meant everyone! Natives too.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Yet - most charitable organizations are created by the 1%. Hmmmmm

Ms. Amanpour, do you read these responses?

@eedaesung5555

3 жыл бұрын

M M I seriously doubt they read any of the comments.

Lol, it's been a long time since the US was a meritocracy, if ever. I doubt it ever was really. Authoritarianism though is definitely not the way to go.

@davidlafleche1142

3 жыл бұрын

@Thomas Headley The "rich" don't have any control over my life.

@davidlafleche1142

3 жыл бұрын

@Thomas Headley I have no idea, since I'm not there. Besides, there is no life on any planet but Earth. The Bible says so.

@tomymelon6293

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidlafleche1142 you use youtube...the rich control your life. I love youtube, it's my choice, but to use youtube, means you are being watched and have to adhere to regulatory policies. Remember that lonnggg contract we just skipped and clicked next, way back when were signing up? The rich provide beautiful innovation but they...do...control us

@davidlafleche1142

3 жыл бұрын

@@tomymelon6293 Prove it. How do the "rich" control me? I still have a mind of my own. I refuse to watch any so-called "news" program, on any network.

@tomymelon6293

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidlafleche1142 well, if you write a comment youtube doesn't like, it will get deleted. Supress freedom of speech. Also, the recommendations are from youtube, they control which videos will inspire your thinking It's all voluntary because we chose to go on this awesome app. But if we do chose to, then are thoughts and voice will be controlled

That ideal is wonderful in theory

Sandel is a very smart man, but he is dead wrong on this one. In fact, a meritocratic system which is abused and circumvented does not discredit the system, but simply highlights the need of a corrective mechanism.

@choiyatlam2552

Ай бұрын

The problem is we don’t have one as we have too much faith on meritocracy and capitalism, almost treating them as objective science. We need meritocracy to a certain extent, but pass that point it becomes a detriment due to the over optimization that create over competition, which leads to nepotism, factory style learning and portfolio caused by anxiety and insecurity by the upper class.

@Razomir

Ай бұрын

@@choiyatlam2552 That's not quite true. I dont think anybody views meritocracy or capitalism as "objective science" but that's besides the point. Now, "Over competition" is a dangerous phrase since it opens up a lot of considerations about how human psychology and motivation works and they almost unanimously tend to favor a meritocratic system under the expectation that it does work. For example, you mention anxiety and insecurity. While those are a problem you do not solve those with coddling and implementing a victim mindset. I agree with you on the nepotism but that is precisely my point. If you use nepotism then you are NOT following meritocratic principles, you're trying to circumvent them. Which leads to my initial conclusion about the extra corrective mechanism.

Also check out 'Status Anxiety' series from Alain De Botton.

So meritocracy itself is not bad it’s the mindset of those who follow the meritocracy which is a bad so this is an issue that needs to be fixed and thank you for posing this question/issue!

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah. What a horrible mindset- “if I work hard, spend wisely, moderately invest- I won’t ever be poor.”

@martyr_lightsilver1833

9 ай бұрын

​@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz Simple truth is that most people don't like living that way. And there's no reason to try when they end up in jobs they don't like that offer a high paycheck. It doesn't help when automation and outsourcing continues to kill jobs people actually find interesting and want to do, replacing them with more technical, tedious jobs.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

9 ай бұрын

@@martyr_lightsilver1833 little do democrat voters realize how much democrat regulations are largely driving the increase in outsourcing and automation.

If I didn't know what he was talking about, I would think the he was talking about Nepotism, not Meritocracy. I wouldn't buy this man's book!

Love Sandel. His Justice series was very influential on my politics.

@77tubuck

2 жыл бұрын

We don't have a meritocracy because lesser qualified black are getting jobs through affirmative action.

@scaredyfish

2 жыл бұрын

​@@77tubuck It's like you didn't watch the video at all.

@77tubuck

2 жыл бұрын

@@scaredyfish I did watch the video and he is an asshole. To suggest that people like myself who are working in high paying jobs did not earn our success. Go get a computer science degree than tell me that.

Well said. We can only begin to create a fairer society when we (the human race) redefine what we mean by achieving and living a "successful" life. To do that we need to re-assess why we exist. As I explain in my book "What's the Point?" [Available at Amazon and other leading book shops] - the answer may surprise you. Paul

@applicableapple3991

3 жыл бұрын

I, personally, think that a successful life is seen subjectively be each individual. Each person strives for a different goal in life and I think that it would be unfair to say that there is this one thing that everyone must try to reach. I don't believe there is an intrinsic purpose to our lives, I believe that we make our own meaning (unless you're religious).

@paulkolberg5657

3 жыл бұрын

@@applicableapple3991 Thank you for the reply. Is it not reasonable to conclude from your reply that 1. If 'we' make 'our' own meaning to life - we (that is all of us) are seeking or making meaning to our life: and 2. Therefore that very act of 'striving' or seeking or making meaning, is intrinsically a meaning to 'our' life'? In addition, whilst it is true that what is a successful life can be determined subjectively, that subjectivity is not necessarily the right approach. I say this because the logic of your point would lead to this: A thief may be a very successful thief his or her whole life - and thereby consider themselves to have had a successful life. Would that view be right simply because that person (subjectively) determined it is? If you 'believe' it is (as you are entitled to do), are you not advocating a life without any morals or ethics. What if the thief stole from you. Would you say, "That's alright? He's just been successful". Is that the kind of 'fair society' you want to live in?

@applicableapple3991

3 жыл бұрын

@@paulkolberg5657 1. Correct 2. "The very act of striving or seeking or making meaning, is intrinsically a meaning to our life?" I would say no, I think to say that the meaning of life is to find meaning is incorrect, although what we must all do is to find meaning, we do not find meaning for the sake of meaning, so, the meaning of life cannot be to find meaning. I would rather say that we find meaning in order to live our lives with purpose, so that we can leave this world knowing that we changed it in some way. Onto your second point, you're right, my position is devoid of moral and ethical consideration. If this robber's meaning in life is to make the most elaborate heist then it is his meaning. I hold this position because there are bad people who will do bad things. I personally wish that everyone's goal would be to contribute to the world by helping the poor, making breakthroughs in science, etc., But ultimately it is not what I think, it is their life. I believe that an individual's meaning in life will define whether they are a good person or not. We will still hold everyone to the same objective standard of morality no matter their meaning in life. If someone's meaning in life is to commit mass genocide (hopefully not) then we will stop them from accomplishing their goal. I don't think you can say whether anyones meaning is "right", but we can say whether it is good, compared to the standard of morality, which I, and most people, would say is well being. I hope I've explained myself adequately. I want to add another point, if my world view is wrong, I still do not believe that it would be correct to provide an objective goal that everyone must try to reach. We are all different and we all look at life differently, frankly, I think an objective goal would be horribly unfair.

@paulkolberg5657

3 жыл бұрын

@@applicableapple3991 Thank you for your reply. I wish you every happiness in your life. Paul.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

No one that ambitious is poor in America. My god, you liberals are fools.

His first point seems to be saying that the US is not a true meritocracy, which I agree with. Then he goes on to say that the idea of meritocracy is flawed because not everyone succeed if they work hard, and that it leads the rich to believe that their success is their own doing. But that doesn't mean meritocracy is flawed - that just proves we are not living in a true meritocracy. In a perfect meritocracy, everyone should have equal opportunities, and so a person's success should be his/her own doing.

@ChickenVeggi

3 жыл бұрын

Perfect meritocracy is not possible. Luck plays very important role in life. Check out this Veritasium kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZYCj0qtticipZKw.html More importantly Sandel's main point is meritocracy treat people who were not successful in life (basically not becoming a millionaire) as losers and disrespects them and their work (take garbage collector for example)

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Everyone has equal opportunity in the USA. No one is stopping you from doing anything.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

And yes, we do have a complete meritocracy in the USA. Everything you have results of your efforts and decisions

Very interesting, even for many NewsHour viewers. #AmanpourPBS #PBSNEWS

He wants Americans to believe that their life outcomes are the results of what was done to them and not done by them. Let me give you an example. By being a football player and partying heavily throughout high school Billy Bob didnt graduate, didnt get into college, had to struggle to make a living while getting his GED, and then became a truck driver who now faces the posibility of loosing his job due to automation. Billy Bob has an IQ of 145 and had he joined the computer club instead of the football team he might have graduated with honors, gotten a full scholarship to college, become a software engineer specializing in AI and would now be partly responsible for putting thousands of truckers out of a job. But he would still be employed. People need to understand how their own decisions have the greatest impact on their lives. If you are able bodied and poor in America it is most likely your own fault. You clearly do not understand the repercussions of your actions. Have a plan if you plan to have.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Amen

Sometimes in life all you have to do is ask. Maybe if you continue to ask someone will say YES! Having an interest, hobby or an idea could pay off. If we encourage one another more, the sky is the limit!

Not everybody is sleep. Not everybody is coward. Well done Professor Michael Sandel. Thank you CA.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Sure. Californias progressive ideas are awesome right? Lol

I disagree - if you give a job to somebody who can't do it, it's dreadful.

Why is this funny? Ivy Leagues employ legacy admissions. That is even more of a case for a meritocracy, because there isn't a meritocracy in America. Also, hard work does bring wealth. Asians in America faced hardships and discrimination yet were able to be a success. And I mean discriminated against.

This guy doesnt know what meritocracy means. It has nothing to do with overcoming anything. It's about everyone having their authority based on knowledge, ability and work. How is someone being born disadvantaged a flaw in merit? It has nothing to do with merit because when you are born you haven't done anything fo deserve merit.

Let's remember who created these problems government is responsible.

@NBF1865

3 жыл бұрын

@Thomas Headley Now that's funny I'm not a Republican or Democrat I don't follow the dempublican paradigm silly maybe you do.

@NBF1865

3 жыл бұрын

@Thomas Headley Well if you think those crooks in Washington are going to fix things you are mistaken. They are the very reason the system is broken in 1st place

@jackiegleason9272

3 жыл бұрын

I've always believed that we will have honest, unselfish government in this country ... just as soon as we have honest, unselfish voters. Nothing I read in these comments makes me think I need to change my mind about that.

@NBF1865

3 жыл бұрын

@@jackiegleason9272 You must be young I used to believe the same thing. Unfortunately I've seen enough elections come & go & nothing changes it only gets worse. These slick salesman politicians promise great things. Then when they get into office they do the complete opposite of what was promised. The nation is in decline it's been going on for decades now. Washington really is corrupt to the core

@NBF1865

3 жыл бұрын

@Thomas Headley Son I work a extremely dangerous job. I've never taken a dime from the government. What you seem confused about is what I mean by corruption. The over regulations & tax burden placed upon those of us that actually work for a living.

Meritocracy is just a famcy word for "just world bias" by the way.

This raises the question of Thomas Carlyle's concept of the great man. Something both thoroughly misunderstood and therefore thoroughly overlooked in our modern world. The French really only counter it in historiography because Carlyle argued that Napoleon was most certainly not a great man.....

Yes yes!!! Professor you should lead the way by giving up your endowed professorship to a worthy minority. You need to go earn your living by really working. Show us plebes how it's done!

Hard work is not the answer unless you work hard and smart. Only one percent get to the top one percent, imagine. The other 99% divide the other assets depending on the value they provide.

@jackiegleason9272

3 жыл бұрын

Actually, David, very few of the top 1% "get to the top." Most of them were born there. As for your assertion that "the other 99% divide the other assets depending on the value they provide," all I can say is perhaps you have a different definition of "value." I would suggest that a teacher or a police office who makes $60,000 a year provides a LOT more value to society than a rap star or professional athlete who makes millions. But we can agree to disagree.

@davidking4779

3 жыл бұрын

@@jackiegleason9272 I don't have the numbers on what percent of the 1% were born there, but I do know that within a generation or two, they aren't there any more. I know that base salaries for police and others is low, but I also know that with overtime and other opportunities afforded that many earn more than $100 K per year, at least the ones I know personally do. Entertainers and athletes salaries are based on the money the bring in and the price their agents are able to negotiate, of course that doesn't apply to public servants. Every private workers has to provide more value than the compensation, otherwise there is no advantage in hiring them, the same for athletes and entertainers. It is all so simple to me that I am always confused of why others can't see it. It makes me think that they just don't want to see reality, the fantasy is prettier.

@davidking4779

3 жыл бұрын

@@jackiegleason9272 Buffet, Bezos, Jobs, Gates, Google guy's, Zuckerberg and many many more were not born into wealth. The inheritors of many brand name products were born into an empire. Many family members have sold the brand to international conglomerates and no longer profit from the brand.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@davidking4779liberals are unable to do basic economics- just look at the idiot in the White House now?

It pits people against each other instead of with each other

The corollary that the poor deserve their fate isn’t in any way obvious to me. Success is also the result of time and place. As I imagine poverty is.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Nope. Poverty is avoidable through effort

@riohenry6382

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz so if I’m Sudanese during a war….hard work will get me through ?

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@riohenry6382 this is an American video, thus a comment about America, not Sudan. Lol

@riohenry6382

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz philosophy and meritocracy are global issues.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@riohenry6382 meritocracy is not an issue

Meritocracy is great until, only the merits of the few are valued, or worst, people without the merits are giving a pass just because they have the money to buy their way in.

Brilliance should be recognized irrespective of class origin. It should be encouraged, and not the Kushnerian mediocracy.

Great points.

👍

I don't agree on lot of things here.

This is just full of problems, and to say that it exposes the flaws of meritocracy tout court as distinguished from its implementation is positively obtuse. (and why is it important that it is a Harvard professor, exactly?)

Harvard Philosophy.... Needs the Philosophy of Peaceful Coexistence.... Live and Let Live.. Your merit Supreme when your heart craves for serving fellow humans.... Just be... In harmony with Mother Nature🌷🌳🌷🌳..

@applicableapple3991

3 жыл бұрын

Yh but if you look around at mother nature, it's trying to kill us

The problem with it is it has been bastardized by nepotism. In large organizations this has take the form of the old Roman way of dealing with barbarian tribes which was having kept hostages from the royal families, usually cousins and such. The modern corporate way of doing it is management hiring in each others relatives. They want their relatives to move up so for that to happen they move up the other managers relatives.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

That’s pure garbage. Lol

So well said! And the American "meritocracy" makes it even worse with obscene compensation for those achieving success at the top. With competition at insane levels, any kid who thrives and works his/her ass off to become, say, the country's best cardiac surgeon, definitely feels he or she deserves all the spoils. When you make top jobs that hard to attain, those who claw their way to the top expect absurd recompense for their efforts. Can't really blame them. They're a product of the system. It's self-perpetuating because these people, being as smart and achieving that they are, greatly affect policy for the future. And it only gets worse. This is an incredibly effective way to disenfranchise almost an entire population and justify economic hardship for all. It's so much easier when you can blame the victims! We hear it ALL the time with comments like, "Well our new economy can't support these types of jobs!" So should we just shoot half (or more) of our population? Of course not! This is how the elite justify wage theft, wealth and income concentration. The Rand study revealed how $47 trillion were taken from the "bottom" 90% of American wage earners and given to the top from 1975-2018. And when a crime wave hits your city, you can expect people to blame "progressives, the Mayor, Prop 47 (in CA), not enough prisons," or any number of inane justifications. Even in progressive California, within left-wing cities! During the pandemic, the well-off were buying second homes like they were going out of style. All while the poor were unemployed and losing housing. Anyone hear any calls for a "second-home" tax? Nope! Not a single one. Not even in "Kommiefornia!" Not that I'm advocating MORE tax burden on the middle class with a foothold in prosperity and home ownership. But if you WANT that second home, perhaps you should pay a tax to support homeless programs at the same time. But just you wait and see... no, don't! You don't have to! In places like California, the tax burden on the middle and lower income levels is already growing. And continues to grow. Who remembers the 2017 corporate tax cut? The media sure doesn't. It's like it happened 100 years ago! Where are all the jobs, raises, bonuses and prosperity that was promised? Remember all those promises? What do we get today? HIGHER PRICES!! Corporate America is now feigning even more need! "Oh poor us. The pandemic has caused us such hardship. We HAVE to raise prices! Oh now there's a war, more price increases!!!" All during record profits. TOLD YOU SO!!!! The REAL tax revenue needs to come from the top. No productive, egalitarian society with strong economy has a regressive taxation and wide income and wealth gaps. Puritan American work ethic is the easiest way to make sure effective slavery continues in this country! This is how we perpetuate a low minimum wage, so people can "learn what a hard day's work is!" The lack of opportunity in the US is completely self-destructive and erodes society and our potential for greatness. How many smart kids who could and would have gone on to cure cancer or create some amazing new technology were shot dead in Compton, Detroit, Atlanta, or New Orleans? That we tolerate inequality and social segregation, we've eliminated a large segment of our talent pool. So just for selfish reasons, we should address this. But for humane reasons, it's obviously a no-brainer! (Unless you're a rich asshole like Bezos and all the rest who promote inequality and poverty.) (We also do the same with top athletes. With our arbitrary and single age-cutoff system for youth sports, we alienate about 2/3 of our potential. If you're born Jan-March, you have the best chance of athletic success. If you're born Oct.-Dec., you're doomed to failure, statistically speaking. So we could win far more gold medals and have more success at International Championships if we simply had two or three age-cutoff dates for youth sports. Malcolm Gladwell expounds on this in "Outliers.")

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Who do you think gets paid the most on any profession? The top performers. You are horribly misinformed

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

There’s no such thing as wage theft in a voluntary system. My god, you’re comments are ridiculous

@dudeonbike800

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz typical bootlicker of the rich reply. I sure hope you're well compensated for your shilling. All the macro and micro economic data disprove your assertion. But again, I wouldn't expect much less from someone with your laughable moniker.

Sandel for president!

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

You fool

Hes omitted the religious aspect of bounty

I'm giving the video a thumbs down because Sandel's analysis, while correct in certain respects, is not a full representation of facts but lacks a viable remedy (of course this is a short video and I'm sure he has a lot more to say on the subject. Side note: I took an online class from him on the subject of justice which was quite interesting). Clearly there is a problem with the way we fund k-12 that prepares kids for college - or is supposed to. But Americans, as anti-government and individualistic as they, will not support the kind of laws that would make university more egalitarian. What prevents Harvard - where Sandel teaches - from accepting poorer, gifted kids is up to them. They have lots of excess money from endowments to allow whomever they want to let in (as long as they don't violate civil rights laws) but the vast majority of their students are the kids of wealthy elites. We have similar governmental infrastructure and liberal values as Western Europe - where more social mobility is possible - but our differences in culture and attitudes about equality are different enough to explain the distinction between our education system and those in Western Europe (interestingly, England is more similar to the US than Western Europe and it could be that the definition of individual liberty - especially negative liberty, freedom from - comes from England, which is where we got it). As long as we encourage universities to compete, there will be a market for prep schools and private elite universities for wealthy parents to give their kids a leg up over other kids. Unfortunately, the way the "freedom" has manifested in this country is to allow the rich to rent seek and create unfair advantages for themselves. That said, there is nothing wrong with going to a state school, applying yourself, doing well, getting a good job (ok, maybe not as good as the job the Harvard grad gets in most cases) and then giving your own kids the advantage you didn't have (e.g. sending them to prep schools). But you've got to want that in a way that rich folks simply take it for granted. The Sandels of the world are on a soap box making speeches, writing books about inequality that, unfortunately, then get picked up by the professional grievance class who shovel this shit out to folks, giving them an excuse to distrust the system and to take on a disgruntled, victim attitude. I'm sure that's not what Sandel intends, but that is the takeaway and given that things are as they are you have to ask yourself if the grievance class is achieving their ostensible goal of more equality or if they are just amplifying already existing class warfare. And also, what happens to all the poor kids who end up succeeding financially? Do they make efforts, using their newly acquired class power, to work for a more equal society or do they protect their class interests and put their efforts toward maintaining the status quo?

Bullshit!

The American Dream, you must be asleep to believe it.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Stupidest quotes.

Dan Ariely studied this and how easy it is for anyone that makes it to the top to think they're all that and that they made it thanks to the skills alone. One of his experiments was rigging a game of Monopoly towards one player (extra money, turns, etc) and others even knew about it. It was not even a blind study but those players when asked why they won the game (obviously they all did!) said they won thanks to their greater skills O_O If only a rigged game of Monopoly can do that to one's notion of self-worth, imagine making millions (thanks to daddy, being privileged from birth, not paying your employees enough and pocketing the fruit of their labor, etc)!

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Yet- 90% of millionaires are self made, not inherited. So much for your misguided belief

You had me right up until "fueled the populist authoritarian backlash." Don't you think the system you're describing is "authoritarian?" And if so, you'd see these people view themselves as simply trying to balance a rigged system - which they see as rigged because it's...been rigged. Yes, some believe in authoritarianism. But compared to the system you're describing, their view is at the least quite comparable, in terms of power and control over others

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

A rigged system? Lol

I had a good laugh when she inferred America is classless! Guess she hasn't heard about it being a plutocracy.

@kenc2257

3 жыл бұрын

The US is nominally a "classless" society, compared to a country like Britain (or the UK, in general), where "social class" is part of the societal structure and social norms.

@beesplaining1882

3 жыл бұрын

@@kenc2257 America has class. Mostly wealth based with a few exceptions e.g. the Clintons, Kennedys, etc.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

We all have equal opportunity in the USA.

@beesplaining1882

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz yes, and santa is real.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@beesplaining1882 anyone can start a small business, increase their skills, apply themselves more- and achieve the American dream. If America is so bad, with so little opportunity- then why do we have such a massive illegal immigration problem? Statistics are completely against you. Nice try.

Wow I never looked at it that way. Kind of like Hinduism. Stay in your lane

2:19

you are looking at a capitalist republic and judging meritocracy. The usa is not a Meritocracy

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Holly hell. The USA is a 100% meritocracy. You fool

I've seen meritocracy work ....This academic is what he is ....Human nature never changes ....People rise and/or fall for different reasons at different times in their lives .... Just my observation ....

@katchikali9573

3 жыл бұрын

A family with access to resources that assured his success is more like it. You do not have to be wealthy to do well. You just need to know how to access the resources. If your community is starved of resources then you are on your own. It is the same thing all around the world.

@johnprendergast1338

3 жыл бұрын

@@katchikali9573 Well, I've seen both sides succeed and/or fail depending on the person , ...Depending on what is motivating them and what you call success...In this country there are all kinds of opportunities ...I have seen it and believe it ....Don't know about world ..

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Yep. Liberals blame everything on the oppressed-then they stop thinking.

That's BS the poor student knows that it is a combination of their hard work, staying out of trouble, their mama's teaching them about the many if not most of the greatest achievers throughout the world coming from meager means and equally important, the dedicated people who are able and willing to help the financially challenged student because the next Newton may be in that bunch.

People get greedy and ruin everything. Same story over and over. We never learn

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Homeless people think they deserve free housing. That’s greed.

If you're YangGang...you've known this..and the solutions...over a year ago..

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Yang gang? Fools.

@nicholi8208

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz which politician do you like? Who’s your guy?

@nicholi8208

Жыл бұрын

@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz everything yang said is coming true he’s ahead of his time…you should read his book

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@nicholi8208 yang was a supporter of ubi. Total insanity

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@nicholi8208 politics? I am opposite of anything liberals, progressives of socialists support. Nowhere in the world are progressive ideas successful

What is the argument here? 1. People in the 1% tend to stay in the 1%, and people in the bottom stay in the bottom. 2. Because we only pay lip service to meritocracy, it encourages those who earn what they earn to take full credit for it because at least as long as we pay lip service to it, that means we don't have to examine ourselves and the lack of mobility in our country--as long as we say "you could" we don't have to look at the fact "but you actually didn't". 3. Therefore, trash the idea of meritocracy because mobility has not actually occurred. That's absolutely absurd. The obvious solution is to attack 2, whereby we no longer evaluate on lip service but rather evaluate on action. The obvious solution is saying we are meritocratic is not enough; we have to also start having the class mobility to back it up otherwise we have to call ourselves oligarchs even if that makes us a bunch of elitist hypocrites who couldn't even admit as much. Goes with the piece that says Americans think they live in Sweden but they actually live in oligarch ruled Russia.

@eedaesung5555

3 жыл бұрын

Alexandria Nova I think you missed the part where because America BELIEVES in the concept of meritocracy that they believe they deserve their wealth while others deserve to be poor. This creates a cascade of negative effects on our society

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

You fool. 90% of American millionaires earned that status. Everything you said is factually incorrect

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

@@eedaesung5555wrong. The success of one person in a meritocracy never comes at the expense of another. Your comment is unbelievably false.

Never was... Neoliberals are always so confused by neoliberalism

Sound bloke!

As a white male, I see it every day in the industrial electrical and oil and gas industry. While there is very few non-Caucasian males in the work place, there is also few woman. And though woman are becoming more employed in this industry, the outside sales is predominantly white male, while the white woman get the inside sales just, but it is unknown to me if they are equally compensated. The thing is, the non-Caucasians do not even get a look at these jobs, but the perception is that by your own hard work you can be an equal achiever. It is however better for the non-Caucasian at the engineering level.

Communist thinking here.

Nope. What he is saying is that once you reach a certain level, the top as he puts it, it wasn't you, it was everyone else. They got up super early in the morning and worked hard, they stayed up up late and fell asleep trying to read a text book, you really don't deserve what you have because it wasn't you. You should give all of it back to the people who really did the work. I speak form the near bottom here, but I don't believe a word he's saying. I also note that he's talking to a woman who reached a height in her profession, and he himself is a published harvard scholar. Both by effort, both by merit and now both agreeing that it's not merit that makes the difference. Bottom line: there are no guarantees. You can do everything right and it still won't work. Someone else can do everything wrong and it works fine. You roll the dice, you take your chances. We are never going to have a completely fair and level playing field, some have to work harder to get to the place where others already are. I don't like to vilify those who've made it or those who haven't. These two do.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

No you are horribly wrong, and sandel is a fool. Meritocracy runs the world.

Meritocracy is doublespeak for nepotism.

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

Good god. You fool

I don't like to hear excuses from an educated fool! If I was given a choice I rather attend Tsinghua university than Harvard because at Tsinghua all students are created equal!

do you need a harvard phil. argument for this simple insight? And the Bible?

you should thank your fate to God, and to you.

I think it is fair to say Trump has not got anywhere based on Merit ...

@ronaldreagan-ik6hz

Жыл бұрын

You’re a fool