athelind:

titleknown:

A great tweetstorm by Meagan McDay on why there’s a lot of problems with how much the Very Serious People are obsessed with our generation Being Grown Up.

Be sure to check out this article she also recommended reading as a follow-up!

I have been thinking about “meritocracy” recently, and have come to some conclusions:

• Meritocracy is always, always a tautology: those on top deserve to be on top because they’re on top and have proven how deserving they are. 
• A society that prides itself on being a meritocracy is just
  rationalizing its aristocracy/oligarchy as proper, natural, or even
  progressive. 
• Meritocracies with some degree of social mobility assert that “anyone who goes through the steps can reap the benefits” – but this carries the
  inherent assumption that a person’s worth is based on how well they can
  navigate those steps.
• Conversely, even aristocracies with limited social mobility consider themselves meritocracies, even if they don’t
  use the term. The social structure is ALWAYS based on the assumption
  that those on top DESERVE to be there.