Towers of Babel
On Hierarchies and Meritocracy
My husband and I have been watching the HBO “John Adams” series and reading the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. It occurs to me that these men were of such greater character and wisdom and dare I say good intent, than any political leaders we see in the modern world. And yes, I say this knowing about the times they lived in when slavery was still legal (which many of them morally and ideologically opposed, by the way)- they were still, as men of their times, more intelligent, wiser, more thoughtful and of better character and motivation than our leaders today.
It got me thinking about what stage of societal collapse we’re in now. Cultural rot. Do you think it’s due to hierarchies being manipulated to be created based on things other than merit? If meritocracy (choosing the best for the job, whatever the job) is attacked and replaced with manipulation, where hierarchies are no longer established on the basis of merit but on the basis of money, power, influence, race, sex, etc, is this why the chaff rises to the top instead of the cream?
Think of something other than politics for a moment, like music. Meritocracy is not what drives the hierarchy anymore. We are at a place now where people are satisfied to accept AI “music” because in reality it’s not all that different from the algorithm-and-autotuned produced popular music we consume. Musical ability and talent is not what predicates rising to the top.
I think we can see the same thing in politics. The way hierarchies have been manipulated, intelligence, thoughtfulness and good moral character are not the basis of selection for the system. In fact, in this upside down world, where the political hierarchy is determined by money and power, I think it means you might be more likely to rise to the top if you have a bad moral character, that can be exploited so the king-makers know they have blackmail material on you and can own you.
Just thinking a lot about all of this, and where we went so wrong as a culture.
I think a lot of us have been thinking about this. My one-word theory is "ambition." Some people have this quality at the expense of all others. As for how this happens, there are several possible answers, all of which are disturbing.
I told everyone I know the John Adams miniseries is great, couldn't convince anyone to watch it.
Equally good is the AMC series Turn. I think a lot of people didn't see it just because of the bad title. Brilliantly written and acted and even (mostly) historically accurate - I kept checking whether the things depicted really happened and learned a great deal I never knew.