The Tyranny of Merit

paperback, 288 pages

Published Sept. 14, 2021 by Picador.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-80006-0

(1 review)

These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favour of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the promise that "you can make it if you try". And the consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fuelled populist protest, with the triumph of Brexit and election of Donald Trump.

Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the polarized politics of our time, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalisation and rising inequality. Sandel highlights the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success - more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility, and more hospitable …

These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favour of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the promise that "you can make it if you try". And the consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fuelled populist protest, with the triumph of Brexit and election of Donald Trump.

Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the polarized politics of our time, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalisation and rising inequality. Sandel highlights the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success - more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility, and more hospitable to a politics of the common good.

3 editions

Erin reviewed Tyranny of Merit by Michael J. Sandel

Review of 'Tyranny of Merit' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book really hit the sweet spot for me when it comes to accessibility of the language and the concepts. It also avoids self-insertion, which I appreciate. Those two things alone really boosted the rating.

The main reason I'm docking a star here is because I felt that he did a poor job of highlighting the problems with meritocracy for BIPOC, women, and gender nonconforming folks. I get that he wanted to address the appeal of Trump and populism to poor white men, and he wanted to tie the flaws of meritocracy to that - but the flaws of meritocracy don't only impact white men. I kept waiting for him to explore his points as they relate to the experiences of people other than white men. An easy fix could have been to acknowledge and explain his focus on poor white men, but as it is it feels like he's …

This book really hit the sweet spot for me when it comes to accessibility of the language and the concepts. It also avoids self-insertion, which I appreciate. Those two things alone really boosted the rating.

The main reason I'm docking a star here is because I felt that he did a poor job of highlighting the problems with meritocracy for BIPOC, women, and gender nonconforming folks. I get that he wanted to address the appeal of Trump and populism to poor white men, and he wanted to tie the flaws of meritocracy to that - but the flaws of meritocracy don't only impact white men. I kept waiting for him to explore his points as they relate to the experiences of people other than white men. An easy fix could have been to acknowledge and explain his focus on poor white men, but as it is it feels like he's left people out without even realizing why that would be a problem.

I enjoyed a lot of the points in this book and the way it got me thinking. My ratings for nonfiction are usually not a reflection of how much I agree with a book as much as how engaged I was, how thought-provoking the ideas were.

My takeaways:
1) The American Dream (opportunity for upward mobility no matter your background) is not widely accessible. This I would've said I knew and already agreed with. But his follow up point is - okay, say you are able to create a world in which one's talents and efforts truly determine one's place in life. Is that a fair and just society? This extra step which critiques meritocracy as a goal was eye-opening for me. Sandel's point is that we would still have poverty and inequality, but everyone would feel it was they "deserved." But is it really your fault if your talents aren't the ones that are valued?
2) Folks who buy into the idea that the American Dream is currently available to everyone right now and are poor/unsuccessful have often accepted the verdict that they are not valuable people or that they don't have valuable skills. This was such a sad point.
3) As someone with a masters degree, the exploration of credentialism was an excellent challenge for me. I honestly wasn't aware of how few Americans have a bachelors degree or more. My social circle is largely composed of people with degrees. I think I have a real ignorance of the experience of most Americans I need to acknowledge.
4) Building off of #3 - people without college degrees are not valued in education or workplaces. This results in resentment and depression because folks don't feel like contributors or like their work matters.

While I don't believe everyone needs to or should go to college, for myself it was such a valuable part of how I grew in my understanding of the world. I suppose K-12 should really be doing more of that work since that's supposed to be the minimum, but it doesn't for a whole host of reasons.

Sandel's "what should we do" part of the book felt pretty weak, but I don't know what I expect honestly. So much of what needs to happen requires fundamental changes in how we view America and what we owe each other, and those are deeply entrenched things.