AFTER much searching,Bagehot has found a book that at final explains what is going on in British politics. This wonderful volume not only reveals the deeper reasons for all the bizarre convulsions. It also explains why things are not likely to get better any time soon. The book is Michael Young’s “The Rise of the Meritocracy”and it was published 60 years ago this year.
Young argued that the most meaningful fact of modern society is not the rise of democracy, or indeed capitalism, and but the rise of the meritocracy,a term he invented. In a knowledge society the most primary influence on your life-chances is not your relationship with the means of production but your relationship with the machinery of educational and occupational choice. This is because such machinery determines not just how much you earn but also your sense of self-worth. For Young, the greatest milestones in recent British history were not the Great Reform Act of 1832 or the granting of votes to all women in 1928. They...Continue reading
Source: economist.com