Meritocracy Term Analysis

Simply put, a meritocracy is a form of government in which people with skills and merits hold power. In The Road to Character, David Brooks calls present-day society a “meritocracy” because it subscribes to moral romanticism. Moral romanticism first instilled in people the belief that human beings are inherently talented and good and that their skills should therefore be trusted, nurtured, and utilized. Brooks states that these beliefs went too far, leading society to become a fast-paced, highly competitive meritocracy. In this meritocracy, everyone is encouraged to make themselves stand out as much as possible, and so people focus only on their external skills and neglect their internal lives altogether. In other words, the meritocratic society nurtures the external Adam I side of human nature rather than the internal Adam II side. Brooks says that the meritocracy is emotive: people put their feelings first, and so they believe that their feelings constitute morality. Also, meritocracy is relativistic: since there are no objective moral precepts, no one can find common ground with others in moral debates. Lastly, since everyone in a meritocracy believes that their feelings are inherently right, everyone becomes self-sufficient and stops looking to others for moral guidance and support. As a result, community disintegrates, and society becomes individualistic.