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Jon Limbird
15 December 2021 - 16:43 PM
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Debater defined meritocracy as IQ+Effort, but the first example is a gymnast which is purely an athletic pursuit (also exemplifies meritocracy). Using elite Ivy League schools as a point of…
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poopy pants
7 December 2021 - 16:17 PM
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Are you tryna fight me bro cause i got street cred #gangsta
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poopy pants
7 December 2021 - 16:16 PM
Im more gangsta than you #gangsta
IQ2
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poopy pants
6 December 2021 - 16:42 PM
i did not side with dan wanna fight bro # gangsta
IQ2
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poopy pants
6 December 2021 - 16:40 PM
wanna fight bro #gangsta
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poopy pants
6 December 2021 - 16:39 PM
i farted but i was actualy a poot #gangsta
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Scott 31
6 December 2021 - 16:37 PM
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This is one of the best discussions I've heard in some time around the many issues that grow structurally from the philosophical ideal of meritocracy. These are all issues I've…
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David Bryant
2 December 2021 - 03:32 AM
Why don’t we tax capital that seems to circulate amongst the elite (hedge fund managers, derivatives, short term capital gains) and reinvest the money in early childhood development as well…
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m3solomons_18529
1 December 2021 - 23:23 PM
This was an exercise in sematics. There was very little substantive disagreement.
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Lori Reid
30 November 2021 - 19:37 PM
Always missing in debates about meritocracy is that effort is substantiated by time, affordability, and opportunity. You may have immense raw skills that cannot be increased because you have to…
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Drusilla Winters
28 November 2021 - 18:34 PM
This was an exercise in sematics. There was very little substantive disagreement.
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MATTHEW GOODMAN
28 November 2021 - 18:15 PM
Very interesting debate. Have to say I side with Dan, but glad that Adrian mentioned Michael Young, a good friend of my father, Ray Goodman; together with my mother, Dorry…
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Dick Mills
28 November 2021 - 17:49 PM
The yes side is silly. Should we rank iq2us debates by merit or by something else. Your choices of debate topics are drifting more and more towards the far left.
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Thomas Day
28 November 2021 - 17:15 PM
In the days when we had a substantial inheritance tax, taxation on "unearned income," and an upper tax bracket that limited (somewhat) generational wealth transfer there were some moments of…
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November 26, 2021

Agree to Disagree: Is Meritocracy Overrated?

The days of kings and queens are largely over. That old hereditary lottery, at least within many democracies, has effectively been replaced by a system in which talent, grit, and ability are meant to set the terms of success. To quote Michael Shaara’s famous Civil War novel, The Killer Angels, “Here we judge you by what you do, not by what your father was.” And yet with income inequality on the rise, and amidst a pernicious and lingering legacy of slavery and racism, new questions are cropping up as to whether meritocracy itself is mere illusion. Those who say “yes” point to examples of wealth transfers within families, and networks that pave the way for lucrative jobs and fancy educations. Those who say “no” argue that not only does talent ultimately win out, but that despite its flaws, meritocratic systems remain the most effective way of lifting disenfranchised groups from obscurity. In this context, we debate the question: “Is Meritocracy Overrated?”

ABOUT THE DEBATERS
Daniel Markovits
Daniel Markovits - Professor, Yale Law School & Author, "The Meritocracy Trap"
Daniel Markovits is Guido Calabresi professor of law at Yale and founding director of the Center for... Read bio
Adrian Wooldridge
Adrian Wooldridge - Political Editor and Columnist, The Economist
Adrian Wooldridge is The Economist‘s political editor and writes the Bagehot column; an analysis o... Read bio