Just Saying........Thoughts on Our Country Today

I was having an email discussion with a friend about the way things are today in our country. It all started with an article about what's called today's meritocracy in The Atlantic magazine. One definition of a meritocracy is this: "In a meritocracy, all citizens have the opportunity to be recognized and advanced in proportion to their abilities and accomplishments."

Here are my friend's thoughts on that article:

I love The Atlantic stories for their in-depth, critical evaluation of ideas. This one is no exception. The narrative of divisions by ‘class’ puts light on many contributing factors, but all do seem to lead to the same door of resentment. This (resentment?) is why I joined the Occupy Wall Street movement in Zucotti Park so many (hard to believe!) years ago. And yes, it’s not all about money, but the many privileges that money brings with it, as well. I resent the 1% and the system that supports that factioning of society.

Here am I, a hard-scrabble ‘middle-class’ citizen, ascribing conscious and unconscious prejudices to a system of which I am a member. It reminds me of ISPE, of which I am also a member, whose moniker always says to me “international society of pricks and eggheads.” I originally believed the society was meant to, and would, produce benefits for humankind, but soon realized was as much about building walls as any other form of meritocracy might become.  

What am I to think? I struggle and survive, and my son – with no college degrees, outpaces me double-fold by income with a single employer, yet we both continue to struggle against that county-western refrain of ‘every time I make my mark, somebody paints the wall.’ No wonder I so dislike C-W music. Our struggles are defined by that background.

As an active participant in a non-elite institute of higher education, I contribute to the one thing I believe has the most potential to make a difference – citizens capable of rational reasoning. Oh, of course it is trying, as when a student writes to me saying “I worked my ass off for that final and throughout the semester it's like no matter how much I think I've put into what your asking its not good enough.”  Or, maybe that tells me that yes, I have provoked someone into rethinking her position and responsibilities. Or not.

Meritocracy is a seducing concept. I value meaningful contributions to society, but not at its expense.

Tell me what you think.

So, I did. Here's what I said:

The article struck a cord with me, mostly because I feel that I have been one of the lucky ones that has successfully tugged on my own bootstraps to improve my life. I recognize that by having the good sense to have chosen white parents, I was born into a privileged class. And while my blue collar father drank hard enough, long enough to ensure he never bettered himself, I never went hungry and I was further privileged by benign neglect....nobody beat me or molested me, and as long as I didn't get into trouble I was mostly ignored. Additionally, I had "a very fine brain", to paraphrase a man I detest, and somehow my horizons didn't end at the city limits of Haynesville or at the end of Haynesville High School.

With all of that said, or possibly because of the above, I agree with the basic premise of the article, which I took to be that "them what has, plans to keep it". I hope that in some small way, I'm working to spread my success and my wealth around.

My wealth is, obviously, nothing compared to really rich people, but Kate and I have all that we need and most of what we want; we also able to help our children, possible more than is good for them, but as much as we feel is necessary. Anyway, Kate and I contribute regularly and routinely to numerous good works in both charitable and political causes, because I feel, and forgive me if I've articulated this before, that the worth of a person or of a nation is determined by how they help those who need help, whether it be food, money, medical care, housing or education. That test, that standard is why I am so very distressed about our country today: The national plan is "I've got mine and to hell with you". That's not right, and I'm doing what I can, albeit so small as to be invisible, to change the national plan.

I think we need a bigger and stronger safety net for our society: I think that when the poorest and sickest people in this county do best our country does best. I think that when the world does best, the USA does best. I think that the wealthiest elements of society should pay heavily to support the poorest elements of society, and that the somewhat less wealthy, like me, should pay more than they are currently required to. I think that medical care and education should be free for everyone in this country and no one should ever have to go to bed hungry. I am confident our country is wealthy enough to support those goals.  I think that the nativist and America-firsters are really saying "Me first".

I believe that if we could put together a working plan to do all of the above on a national level that we could then generate a real meritocracy, one in which everyone had a much better, much fairer shot at being meritorious. And yes, there would be some people who'd take advantage of the above as a free ride........that's their loss. The key is not to look at those pitiful souls but to look at what we could be, what our country could be if we did help people in the ways I've described. 

And I agree with you about country-western music.

Just saying...........