Good discussion. I don't agree with Douthat's take on meritocracy. My observation and experience has been people are not exhausted by real merit based advancement but by the illusion of a meritocracy. Most organizations, despite having all sorts of "metrics", are not really keeping score, holding people accountable for their actions and decisions, or truly measuring the quantity, quality, or value of somebody's work. The people getting promoted are not the hardest working, most innovative, best decision makers, best value creators, etc.. Instead we're promoting the people who are (or in many cases just appear) most woke, best "team players", most agreeable, most socially well connected, have the appearance of being deeply involved in all the important projects and initiatives despite not making any real measurable contribution allowing them to distance themselves from the many that crash-and-burn while taking credit for those (few) that succeed. In short, most organizations are no longer promoting people in a truly meritorious way but those who are best at creating the illusion of such. And yes, lots of people are tired of that.
douthat has led a charmed life .. great grandfather was governor of connecticut father was a lawyer and he attended a posh private prep school and then harvard .. meritocracy - you bet..!!
the lunar landing - if a couple had sex that night exactly 9 months later the child would have been born on earth day april 1970 ... that always makes me think about connections ...
