Many of you might have been familiar with this term for a long time. But in my case, it might be one or two years I first came across this term. When I first came across the term the meaning and implication was not that clear to me. I didn’t even feel at that time to find out more about this term, as from the initial impression of the term I did understand that this term implies some sort of merit based evaluation and assessment of an individual in each and every sector of life and society.
Later I found out that meritocracy is a sort of political system. A full article with other articles linked on meritocracy can be found in Wikipedia which alone can give one a complete concept about this term with also etymology of course. I had not thought that far to guess this term might mean a sort of political system like Democracy and other systems. There must have been debate about which is the best political system. I do not have sufficient knowledge and understanding to introduce that debate here and draw a conclusion.
What I feel (anyone does feel) is that, an individual should be evaluated and respected based on his or her (any other gender or non-gender identity is also included) merit, talent, hard work etc. other than social class or wealth or power possession. I recall the central tenet of American Dream. Anyone can achieve success in life with hard work and perseverance despite of the social class he or she is born into. There is also debate about the concept of American Dream. For many this dream has become nightmare.
Meritocracy should be exercised in all levels including job recruitment and other types of inclusion. Level playing field is not possible I think. If someone is born in a privileged condition and someone in an under privileged or disadvantaged condition, there should be a huge difference between their life struggles. At a time one needs to study and participates in other life struggles like earning for families to name one.
We read about a lot of success stories published in the daily newspapers especially after the publication of HSC or SSC results. How someone has overcome poverty and secured Golden A+. The polar opposite is also present as anyone knows. This is the structure of society. The stratification of State. Playing in the uneven fields scoring the same goals. But these goals are not always same. Many cannot get jobs due to not having connections and other things.
These practices are already very prevalent among us. We are going through these experiences. We live with these experiences. It is difficult to start from zero with nothing. If some have something it gives them at least a little bit of competitive advantage. If someone has to start from nothing it will be a journey of huge endeavor. Merit, hard works win at the end of the day. I want to have belief on this idea.
