MERITOCRACIA Libertad, igualdad de oportunidades y competencia

Abstract

Este artículo de reflexión analiza la meritocracia en las sociedades contemporáneas. Presenta tres enfoques y argumenta las fortalezas de una perspectiva liberal respecto a otras versiones contemporáneas, como el igualitarismo. El artículo enfatiza la importancia de crear condiciones sociales que permitan la igualdad de oportunidades y sintetiza las críticas más recurrentes a la meritocracia y sus límites. Es un análisis teórico sobre el papel de los méritos individuales en las sociedades basadas en la competencia y la libertad. Por una parte, presenta los argumentos de cada perspectiva, por otra parte, afronta las críticas a la meritocracia y su relevancia social. Finalmente, el texto argumenta acerca de la validez de una concepción de la meritocracia relacionada con la igualdad de oportunidades.

Questioning the Fundamental Right to the Material Equality: Do the Exceptional Cases Justify the Ultraliberal Meritocracy?

“…However, as suggested, the commonly propagated, and lay, view that meritocracy preaches the maximum independence of individuals, so that each one would be responsible for their own condition and that individual reality would necessarily be the product of their own effort and merit, corresponds, in reality, to the meritocratic ultraliberal strand (Daza, 2020).…”

“…Furthermore and clarifying the theme, as well as egalitarianism, meritocracy has several currents, some more extreme and tending to the indicated orientation, which could be called radical, and others more equalizing, which could be called mild. Those advocate a maximum valuation of private autonomy, from an anti-social and anti-welfare perspective of the State, sustaining its distance from social issues; while the latter tend towards a kind of conciliation between private autonomy and equality, that is, valuing this fundamental right as well (Daza, 2020).…”

“…One cannot completely believe in this type of possibility, since it constitutes an exception, a hypothesis that will be better explored in the forth topic of this work. Incidentally, this criticism is justified by a very simple reason: one cannot expect the same performance from all people, even because skills and aptitudes vary from person to person, with those endowed with higher degrees of these attributes (Daza, 2020).…”

“…It is about a fairer branch of meritocracy under the perspective of egalitarianism. According to it, affirmative actions should indeed exist, exactly as a tool for promoting equal opportunities (Daza, 2020).…”

“…), guaranteeing the so-called relative equality, that is, a situation in which subjects are riddled with minimum starting conditions for achieving their goals. In other words, the State must not exactly make people equal, but provide sufficient conditions to help them overcome their own difficulties (Daza, 2020). Meanwhile, it is essential to highlight that this current, unlike the more radical ones, does not pay attention to the result, but to the means, to the circumstances that interfere with its reach.…”