Meritocracy
"The wise man must not be ordered but must order, and he must not obey another, but the less wise must obey him."
Meritocracy, or simply Merit, is an ideology and system based on the talent and effort of individuals instead of their wealth or placement in the social class. The way of advancing in this system is by performance and achievement.
History
In Asia 
Meritocracy was first used in China in the 6th century BCE when it was supported by Confucius. The Qin and Han dynasties used this system for power over their empires, it helped them keep their complex system of Chinese officials.
In the 13th century, the Mongol Empire was reliant on Meritocracy, where soldiers promote to a higher rank based on their merits. After the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Aristocracy, later replaced the current systems in the Yuan Dynasty and Ilkhanate. The other remainder Mongol states Golden Horde and Chagatai Khanate kept this system.
The Timurids used this system. Meritocracy over time would disappear in the steppes region. The Ming dynasty reused the Meritocracy system in military and administration.
In the 17th century, meritocracy spread outside of Asia into Europe and the United States. Great Britain implemented Meritocracy in British India as a civil service, making it the first European power to do so. Employees are promoted by their managers based on competitive examination in an attempt to avoid corruption and favoritism.
In the UK
Around 1847 Thomas Taylor Meadows made his Desultory Notes on the Government and People of China. Near the 19th Century, it had caught on and the "Chinese Mandarin System" was adopted.
John Stuart Mill also had a meritocratic idea when he wrote in Considerations on Representative Government, that some more educated voters should have been given more votes.
The term Meritocracy was coined by Michael Young in 1958 in the novel The Rise of the Meritocracy.
How to Draw
- Draw a ball.
- Fill in with navy blue.
- Draw a vertical line in yellow
- On top of the line, draw two triangles, one facing left, one facing right. They should touch their tips at the centre so it looks like a horizontal 8.
- From the bottom of the line, draw two curves that go to the top, one on the left, one on the right
- On each curve, add lines perpendicular to them that get longer the closer to the top
- Draw in the eyes.
- Optional: Add glasses connected by a yellow curve and add a long yellow handle on the side
You're done!
Color Name | HEX | RGB | |
---|---|---|---|
Navy Blue | #003785 | rgb(0, 55, 133) | |
Yellow | #FED700 | rgb(254, 215, 0) |
Relations
A+
Noocracy - He shares our rule of the merited, specifically the all-knowing.
Technocracy - Also shares our rule of the merited, specifically technical experts and scientists.
Cyberocracy - Well, if an AI is skilled enough...
Chinese Theocracy - Confucius is one of my early inspirations but this
emperor stuff is weird.
Scientocracy - You need quite a lot of talent to become a scientist.
Chiang Kai-shek Thought - Thanks for promoting my ideals in modern China and Taiwan, even though you kinda failed.
Dengism - The savior of China! It is you who should've been on the throne from the start, and not
that hateful anti-intellectual schizo.
C
Aristocracy - "Rule of the best"? That sounds pretty great, but I feel like most who claim to be you are not particularly qualified...
Trust me, it's all
his fault. We Aristocrats are studying how to be good political leaders from the day we learn to read. If we're not qualified, then nobody is!
Capitalism - A lot of you advocate for me, but in pursuit of making a profit, you often prioritize how much something will cost over the amount of labor that was put into it, putting quantity over quality in the process.
Democracy - Better than its predecessors, but as a great man once said, "the people are retarded".
Kraterocracy - We agree that skill is very important to the worth of an individual, but don't you think what you've got is a bit too brutal?
Mediocracy - You're getting a C.
Social Darwinism - You support intellectual and physical skills but even more overtly and unnecessarily violent. You're getting a D-.
Welfarism - I can appreciate the need to work towards the common good, but how do we know if we're giving welfare to the deserving?
Xi Jinping Thought - Thank you for the Confucius institutes and such, but I suspect that you are just using me for your own gains rather than genuinely believing in Confucianism and meritocracy.
F-
Caste System - Your treatment of people is terrible and unfair, and your system is fundamentally flawed and unproductive! People should have their worth decided by merit, not by what "caste" they're born into.
Maoism - The triumph of ignorance over intelligence indeed! Why are you so averse to education, merit, and intellectuals??? You despise me so badly that you started your "cultural revolution" to destroy me, and destroyed your whole entire country in the process! The barely functional system you ended up creating was somehow even worse than
his, and that's saying something! Thankfully, immediately after your tyranny ended I made a return to China, thanks to
them
.
Kakistocracy - An opponent averse to our ideas of the merited.
Kleptocracy - No bribes or favors, shut up and complete your test.
Ceremonial Monarchism - You're an insult to the institution of monarchy.
Pol Potism - Wh... H-How did you manage to be even worse than
him?! Your system is literally nothing but complete wicked madness and self-destruction!! STAY AWAY FROM MY GLASSES, YOU SICK FUCK!!!
Further Information
Wikipedia
Literature
Critiques
“The Meritocracy Trap,” explained By Roge Karma
YouTube
Videos
Gallery
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Meritocracy
- ↑ While ideologies throughout history have used meritocracy to decide their government (especially in China), the actual term was coined by
Michael Young to satirize the dystopian nature of modern-day life.