Hayes writes of his America;
"In our own case, the end point is nowhere near as violent or dire. But if the Iron Law of Meritocracy has corrupted a society founded upon the twin principles of difference and mobility, we might ask what kind of social order would result.
It would be a society with extremely high and rising inequality yet little circulation of elites. A society in which the pillar institutions were populated by and presided over by a group of hypereducated, ambitious overachievers who enjoyed tremendous monetary rewards as well as unparalleled political power and prestige and yet who managed to insulate themselves from sanction, competition, and accountability, a group of people who could more or less rest assured that now they have achieved their status, now that they have scaled to the top of the pyramid, they, their peers, and their progeny will stay there.
Such a ruling class would have all the competitive ferocity inculcated by the ceaseless jockeying within the institutions that produce meritocratic elites, but face no sanctions for failing at their duties or succumbing to the temptations of corruption,. It would reflexively protect its worst members, it would operate with a wide gulf between performance and reward, and would be shot through with corruption, rule-breaking, and self-dealing as those on top pursued the outsize rewards promised for superstars. In the way the bailouts combined the worst aspects of capitalism and socialism, such a social order would fuse the worst aspects of meritocracy and bureaucracy.
It would, in other words, look like the America elite circa 2012."
He might as well be speaking for Singapore.
The book is worth a read. It recounts how the major institutions in America have failed one after another, and while millions of ordinary Americans suffered through Katrina, the Wall Street fiasco, the sub-prime debacle, the top 1% walked off richer, fatter with billion dollar bonuses, severance payouts, and guilt-free, and live to return to inflict fresh rounds of injury.
Doesnt it remind you of Singapore albeit in a smaller scale?
The blurb on the book cover says:
"Since the 1960s, as the meritocracy elevated a more diverse group of men and women into power, they learned to embrace the accelerating inequality that had placed them near the very top. their ascension heightened social distance and spawned a new American elite - one more prone to failure and corruption than any that came before it.."
"In our own case, the end point is nowhere near as violent or dire. But if the Iron Law of Meritocracy has corrupted a society founded upon the twin principles of difference and mobility, we might ask what kind of social order would result.
It would be a society with extremely high and rising inequality yet little circulation of elites. A society in which the pillar institutions were populated by and presided over by a group of hypereducated, ambitious overachievers who enjoyed tremendous monetary rewards as well as unparalleled political power and prestige and yet who managed to insulate themselves from sanction, competition, and accountability, a group of people who could more or less rest assured that now they have achieved their status, now that they have scaled to the top of the pyramid, they, their peers, and their progeny will stay there.
Such a ruling class would have all the competitive ferocity inculcated by the ceaseless jockeying within the institutions that produce meritocratic elites, but face no sanctions for failing at their duties or succumbing to the temptations of corruption,. It would reflexively protect its worst members, it would operate with a wide gulf between performance and reward, and would be shot through with corruption, rule-breaking, and self-dealing as those on top pursued the outsize rewards promised for superstars. In the way the bailouts combined the worst aspects of capitalism and socialism, such a social order would fuse the worst aspects of meritocracy and bureaucracy.
It would, in other words, look like the America elite circa 2012."
He might as well be speaking for Singapore.
The book is worth a read. It recounts how the major institutions in America have failed one after another, and while millions of ordinary Americans suffered through Katrina, the Wall Street fiasco, the sub-prime debacle, the top 1% walked off richer, fatter with billion dollar bonuses, severance payouts, and guilt-free, and live to return to inflict fresh rounds of injury.
Doesnt it remind you of Singapore albeit in a smaller scale?
The blurb on the book cover says:
"Since the 1960s, as the meritocracy elevated a more diverse group of men and women into power, they learned to embrace the accelerating inequality that had placed them near the very top. their ascension heightened social distance and spawned a new American elite - one more prone to failure and corruption than any that came before it.."
