"Humility and Dignity."

I completed 'The Tyranny of Merit' yesterday after skipping some parts in the middle. Michael Sandel takes you through the downfall of merit alongside the American political rhetoric of the times from 'America being great because it is good' to 'one can rise as far as their capability' and finally to 'one must go to college' and moving from calling people smart to things and decisions smart.

The more I read it the more I felt that it was a social commentary by a concerned man about the rising level of inequality and its consequences, I'll need to get more data before I accept that increasing inequality is a concern since a lot more people have come out of poverty and into the middle class as the markets have been allowed to play their role than when the governments have tried it.

I think the main point that the author is trying to drive here is that equality of opportunity hasn't worked as well as promised and he also seems to be against equality of results. But, his way out is broad equality of condition as he calls it that enables those who do not achieve great wealth, prestigious positions to live lives of decency and dignity.

The conclusion if I may say so was a letdown after the buildup at the beginning of the book. People should realise and be grateful for what they have and not be proud was the first conclusion. And that the society should have the dignity of labour was the second one.

A society that respects humility and treats all work as important and necessary will definitely be an ideal worth striving for. How does one get there has been the perennial question as pride and envy and the wish to be first among equals are afflictions as inevitable as death and disease. You can't, with today's knowledge and the left and right philosophies, take them out of a human being without taking the other better emotions of love, humility and forgiveness along with them and put us in an emotionless world.

However, I agree with the concern that Michael Sandel shows in his book. A commendable attempt.

Have a good weekend.