Comment by dreamfactory2

You do realise the author coined the term 'meritocracy' in the first place and therefore gets to decide what it constitutes? I think you have the wrong end of the stick in any case as he contrasts it with class and nepotism and finds it an even worse form of government. I suspect his definition isn't far off yours or mine: "merit is equated with intelligence-plus-effort, its possessors are identified at an early age and selected for appropriate intensive education, and there is an obsession with quantification, test-scoring, and qualifications." That's precisely why his critique of the arrogance and complacency this elitism leads to is interesting and not so easily dismissed. He thinks that a system where "every selection of one is a rejection of many" is overall a net loss.