The Meritocracy Trap

书名：The Meritocracy TrapHowAmerica'sFoundationalMythFeedsInequality,DismantlestheMiddleClass,andDevourstheElite
作者：DanielMarkovits
译者：
ISBN：9780735221994
出版社：PenguinPress
出版时间：2019-9-10
格式：epub/mobi/azw3/pdf
页数：448
豆瓣评分： 6.7

书籍简介：

A revolutionary new argument from eminent Yale Law professor Daniel Markovits attacking the false promise of meritocracy It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal – that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding – reigns supreme. Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream. But what if, both up and down the social ladder, meritocracy is a sham? Today, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy's successes. This is the radical argument that Daniel Markovits prosecutes with rare force. Markovits is well placed to expose the sham of meritocracy. Having spent his life at elite universities, he knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within. Markovits also knows that, if we understand that meritocratic inequality produces near-universal harm, we can cure it. When The Meritocracy Trap reveals the inner workings of the meritocratic machine, it also illuminates the first steps outward, towards a new world that might once again afford dignity and prosperity to the American people.

作者简介：

Daniel Markovits is Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School and founding director of the Center for the Study of Private Law.

书友短评：

@ 阿扎罗 阿姨送我的书，她女儿头脑聪慧但体弱多病她很忧心，给我讲一些怪事比某州某校某年掩盖了N个学生自杀。我感觉现在美国高中也这样吧中国教育大省的高中每年都挂几个的。我认识的叔叔当校长受不了不干了。下午抓起来翻了一遍..作者慷慨陈词，类似hypereducated/superelite的大词简直吓死本韭了。他的观察和论据都非常实在-workplace training以前是雇主提供如今成本转嫁给了员工。但我觉得整本书忽视了了一个大的矛盾，即生产力与生产关系的矛盾，人力不值钱，制造合格劳动力的养育成本太高，更不用说医生律师等。养孩假设按照每年20W成本，复利10%20年后总成本1145W；换做15%复利总成本就变成2048W了..啥样的工作能justify这种投入啊？那可不就形成了一个trap.. @ & [有声书] 好像评价有点低呢。啰嗦确实是个弊病，但作者真的指出了一些meritocracy所带来的问题，非常详实的数据支持，总的来说是在看super rich和middle class以及middle class和poor之间的区别之比较，从收入、教育、医疗、健康等等方面分析。或许牵强的是是否meritocracy是这一切的根源，这也是causality和association难以区分的好例子。比较警醒的是我们逐渐习以为常的一些理念：“懒惰不行”“靠自己努力过上好日子并要将这些优势传递给下一代”“work life balance只是美好幻象”。不得不说对这类问题的探讨，教育资源不均真是风口浪尖。 @ 三无帮帮主 最后的建议带有学者的天真。例子很多，但也有点啰嗦。不管怎么说，是时候讨论meritocracy的问题了，为这个加半星。 @ 深蓝色犀牛 看了大半弃了…书的整体观点是不错的，但是又又又论证了我的偏见：外国人实在很擅长把一个观点拉拉杂杂地拓展成一本书。等缘分到了再重读这本书吧。 @ 廖芜 meritocracy不行啦，让middle class压力太大了，太明显称为上层人压榨的工具了，所以我们重新分配一下回到以前大家都有淳朴的生活的时候就好啦，就大概改革一下教育和税制就ok啦，其他不用烦心（可是明明之前说了那么多的high tech/automation威胁就业和加剧工作压力，怎么最后就不提了？你确定你不是对上个世纪的美国有太多粉红色的泡泡？（一般畅销书，看看就行 @ 走走 批判这件事 还是我圈更在行 要不然结尾都是宣言绝句呢 @ 斯嘉丽的阳台 只能说是作者自己的观点吧 虽然对我还挺有启发的 但这本书并不能算作一个有理有据的、对meritocracy的调查研究 @ Puqu 好像除了远离这个trap没有别的办法了吗？

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