The Revolt against the Elites with Michael Sandel
A interesting and important conversation with FAIR Advisor Glenn Loury and Harvard professor Michael Sandel, known for his popular course Justice and his writings, including his recent book, The Tyranny of Merit.
Sandel’s Tyranny of Merit “offers a compelling interpretation of how such a clear dividing line—between elite and non-elite…emerged in the US… [he] views the principle of meritocracy as one of the culprits behind our present polarization. It’s a powerful account of social division” that the two debate. “If you think about it, the closer we come to a perfect meritocracy, if we could somehow achieve genuine equality of opportunity,” Sandel says, “that would not dissolve these attitudes toward success and failure, the hubris of the successful and the humiliation of those left behind.”
Again and again, Sandel points to the “meritocratic hubris of elites.” When he discusses the rise of voters in 2016 and 2020 against elites, he speaks of "Elites in the world of finance, in the world of academia, in the world of the media, in journalism, the Manhattan elite. .. the neoliberal globalization project of the center-right and center-left…a certain meritocratic hubris among the elites who said, ‘The winners deserve their winning.’”
Related:
Elites and Experts: Coleman Hughes talks with David Sacks (Conversations with Coleman, 12/10/22)
Loury’s powerful condemnation of the Elites (The Glenn Show, 7/24/22)
