I a long-winded way of saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
This irks me chat. This is an elephant in the room that should be causing mass chaos
As someone who’s both ND and with a diminished social circle from an isolating family, I hate that people still talk about getting a job as just a matter of applying like there isn’t preferential treatment for connected people.
And framing education as the ‘great equalizer’ hasn’t done anything to dispel the myth of meritocracy.
So you’d like to go back to a time when it was far more “who you know”?
I’ve been hired many times merely from submitting a resume and interviewing, and not knowing a soul.
And I don’t have a bunch of letters after my name - I have a nominal education.
I’ve been hired exactly one time from knowing someone (I’ve had many jobs) - but I also had the skills, stayed with the company and took on a lot of work for my team. I felt a serious obligation to the relationship with the person who recommended me. (Plus the interview was good, I wouldn’t have been hired otherwise).
So meritocracy exists - it’s just that you don’t see it fully. Those soft skills are as important (perhaps more important) than the technical - and that’s noticed. The merit can be someone’s ability to contribute to the team spirit, help keep their peers on the same page, motivated.
And I say this as someone who’s soft skills aren’t really that good, in fact it’s probably my weakness.
So you’d like to go back to a time when it was far more “who you know”?
In my experience it’s like that now. All work I’ve got was because someone I know knew someone else who’s current employer was looking for workers.
I think every job I’ve had I got by knowing the right people. The meritocracy thing isn’t something I’ve ever experienced.
Meritocracy in the current US workforce is absolutely fake, what lmao. What is this shit.
It exists among the skilled trades within the construction industry, where the value of one’s labor is tied to a very tangible and measurable output. High producers are able to command a higher wage because they earn the bosses more money (or they’ll take their skillset elsewhere).
This reads a lot like you really want meritocracy to be real so you’re trying to find evidence for it. Even if you got a job without knowing anyone, how do you know it’s not some other reason?
If meritocracy exists how do we explain the absolutely massive wealth gap? What about all those economists who say it’s a myth? Even the liberals like Robert Reich say it’s a myth.
I think you misunderstand - Education is good, but it is not an equalizer when it is just the default requirement in a given field. Other factors come into play based on your free time. It’s hard to do an unpaid internship, make connections with peers, or take on extra skill training when you’re forced to work a full time job just to go to school.
And being neurotypical isn’t a merit one earns. If I don’t inherently understand how to socialize outside of work or build team spirit, that’s extra work I have to do outside of actually doing the work I’m paid for.
How is that rewarding merit and not just the circumstances you inherited?
Edit: I don’t want to go backwards. I want to go forward to a time where we don’t screen for people based on their ability to smile and attend Christmas parties. We can get there by not accepting this as normal or fair.
As someone who probably has had a similar amount of professional success with getting jobs cold, you just dont see the LACK of meritocracy. I know I wouldnt’ve been hired to several of my jobs if my name wasnt so white. You get to know hiring managers after enough time. Just because the is a minimun set of skills required for a job does not mean meritocracy exists.
there are some exceptions, like a lot of extremely dangerous professions like crab fishing and underwater welding being paid disproportionately for their typical social clout (obviously not true of all dangerous positions, counter-example is sanitation workers), but yeah
Also, extreme hours can be a thing. I know a place where the blue-color workers make 250K+ while the engineers might not make 6-figures. But the engineers are M-F 9-5 (most of the time) while the workers were rotating shifts and often had months where they averaged 90+ hrs/week.
Yes, if anything the more work you do the less you get paid.
My jobs have consistently gotten easier and less demanding as I’ve been promoted and made more money. I don’t think this is true across the board, but it’s common enough that the opposite should not be as prevalent of a “common sense” opinion as it is.
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber(pdf) has a lot to say on the subject of pointless, low effort jobs that pay well.
