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davidgilani 's review for:
The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?
by Michael J. Sandel
One of the most thought provoking books I've read all year. I feel bad for some of the other books that I read around the same time as this one, because they have just been overshadowed by this one.
Where to start... why is it that in both the UK and US, it used to be (in the 70s and 80s) that those who were more highly educated tended to vote Conservative and Republican... but then this evened out around the millennium and now has completed reversed, with those with higher education degrees overwhelmingly supporting Democrats and Labour? Why is it that those from less-educated backgrounds are turning more and more to right-wing populist parties around the world?
The Tyranny of Merit beautifully asks not just whether a meritocracy is possible to achieve, but even whether we'd want that at all. In an autocracy, there is no social mobility, but at least people don't believe that they 'deserve' to be where they are by anything they have done. Whereas, in a meritocracy those on the 'bottom' have both the double misfortune of not having access to success, but also having no one to blame but themselves for their lack of it.
There were chapters in the book that completely changed how I think about the importance of higher education - and how it's far from always being a force for good in the world - and how this in itself has become more and more of a political issue.
Just so many interesting thoughts and reflections following this book. 100% recommend to anyone interesting in sociology, politics, education. I'll definitely read again in the future.
Where to start... why is it that in both the UK and US, it used to be (in the 70s and 80s) that those who were more highly educated tended to vote Conservative and Republican... but then this evened out around the millennium and now has completed reversed, with those with higher education degrees overwhelmingly supporting Democrats and Labour? Why is it that those from less-educated backgrounds are turning more and more to right-wing populist parties around the world?
The Tyranny of Merit beautifully asks not just whether a meritocracy is possible to achieve, but even whether we'd want that at all. In an autocracy, there is no social mobility, but at least people don't believe that they 'deserve' to be where they are by anything they have done. Whereas, in a meritocracy those on the 'bottom' have both the double misfortune of not having access to success, but also having no one to blame but themselves for their lack of it.
There were chapters in the book that completely changed how I think about the importance of higher education - and how it's far from always being a force for good in the world - and how this in itself has become more and more of a political issue.
Just so many interesting thoughts and reflections following this book. 100% recommend to anyone interesting in sociology, politics, education. I'll definitely read again in the future.