The Illusion of Meritocracy

From birth, like brainwashing, we are constantly told that if we study we will find a good job and the harder we work the more “way” we will go.

The idea of ​​”meritocracy” is installed from birth. A term that would indicate the democracy of merit. A company that rewards those who work better and those who work more. The more you do, the more you will receive. Clearly, it is enough to turn around to realize how illusory this concept is.

A miner who earns $ 1 an hour and a guy who runs after a rubber ball and kicks her who earns millions of euros a year.

Of course, the internet is full of “success stories” told after the success came as it is full of gurus, influencers, experts who, instead of enjoying their millions, decide to dedicate hours and hours of their days to teaching how to become millionaires …

The idea of ​​having free will leads to dreaming and having expectations and expectations creates the conditions for disappointment. We know almost nothing about the universe around us, we can’t stop the sunrises and sunsets, we can’t stop the rotating motion of the Earth, we can’t stop the expansion of the Universe, we can’t refuse to be born, we can’t die .. in short, we have no power over 99.9% of the Universe that surrounds us though….we have the presumption to think that our actions can change our destiny and that, therefore, our destiny depends on them.

It is clear that the nonexistence of the “Free Will” cannot be demonstrated as its existence cannot be demonstrated. Both are “faiths” to be embraced according to one’s own experiences. (for a more impartial analysis it would be desirable not to consider hopes as the idea of ​​the existence of free will is strongly linked to the hope of having power over one’s life. Hope, therefore, would tend to make the analysis of the facts less impartial)..Nobody can say with objective evidence that whatever happens to us, any “choice” made has not actually already been planned. For this reason, both possibilities (that there is free will and that there is no free will) have the same weight and the same value.

Was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos a genius compared to Mohamed who died in misery instead? Jeff Bezos was born in the USA (chance? Result of an already programmed software?), From a wealthy family, he was able to study, he had the economic possibilities to open a business in a state with little bureaucracy and that does not charge taxes to those it starts. He started his business in a country that offers infrastructure, a certain standard of living, etc, etc. Mohamed was born in Gambia. The parents had been killed when he was a child. He was unable to study. He didn’t even have the money to buy a piece of bread … he died in poverty at the age of 40. 

It is an extreme example but highlights how many variables can be involved. 2 individuals from the same city, although apparently, may have the same chances of success, in reality, they do not have them. Francesco will go to university and Marco will also. Francesco one day, at the bar, he will meet a person with whom he will talk about his idea and who will become his financing partner. Marco, on the other hand, will not know anyone and, even if he has brilliant ideas, no person useful for their development will ever know them and his ideas will die with him. He will have a life without a steady job.

The Internet is full of characters who made themselves out of “nothing”. The point is that Mohamed’s “nothing” was really nothing but the “nothing” of some can be a lot. A “nothing” that is almost always omitted because there is nothing that sells more than a success story of an ordinary and resourceless person. It matters little if you omit that the family was wealthy, that the parents financed them, that they met the right people who sponsored their idea etc, etc, etc.

If we accept the fact that the Universe and life in it are predetermined, we will begin to put expectations aside, we will live a more peaceful life and we will simply work on accepting the facts as inevitable. We will put the blame aside and this will bring us closer to peace. There are people who smoke all their lives and die of old age and healthy, others who lead extremely healthy lives and die young from cancer. There are people who do 1000 job interviews and cannot find a good job, others who at the first interview find the person able to appreciate their value and get a dream job. We have no-fault for anything because our future does not depend on us.

We are not to blame if one sunset is less red than another one or if it rains one day and one does not or if the umbrella breaks, we are not guilty if we lose our job or if we do not find one or if we get sick or … any else.

We are simple elements of the Universe, subject to its laws as are electrons, photons, and all the particles that compose it with the difference that we are electrons with the presumption of having the power to change our destiny. Let’s put this idea aside and learn to live by trying to accept the fact that we are not like the sun we see. We rise and set … the color we have will be decided by nature and who generated its codes. We can simply accept it (and live in peace) or reject it (and enter into conflict) but we cannot change it

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