I just finished episode #221 - "Success, Failure, & the Common Good" this morning on my walk to work, and right at the very end of the episode, Michael sort of summed up everything he was talking about throughout the episode, and I really enjoyed it. I think it's literally the first time that I've rewound an episode not because the point was lost on me or I had lost focus, but rather, because I was so taken in by what he was saying that I just had to listen again.

The quote came after their in-depth discussion of some of the failings of our currently imperfect incarnation of a meritocratic system, and how the generally unspoken aim of a perfectly meritocratic system may lead to some really counter-intuitive and undesirable results. This was the second time I had heard this idea fleshed out before (I think the first time was on Sean Carroll's Mindscape podcast), so it wasn't totally new to me, but it's still an idea that I have yet to really internalize or give any significant amount of thought to, although I find it really compelling and interesting. The quote in question:

Instead of building a political project of trying to perfect the meritocracy and equip a handful of people for meritocratic competition; instead, we should diffuse democratic learning broadly throughout the society. There's no reason why liberal-arts learning and moral and civic education should be sequestered in the citadel of higher education, and then we hold a tournament to try to determine who will gain access to the citadel. I Think that we should get back to a kind of broad democratic equality of condition, where we focus on creating public spaces and common places of shared democratic citizenship within civil society; class mixing institutions, where people from different walks of life encounter one another; and where everyone, not just those with high SAT scores, gain access to the moral and civic learning and deliberation that a democratic society, at it's best, offers and makes available to everyone.

I thought this was a powerful and well-spoken summary of what was discussed throughout the episode (helped along by his soft-spoken, soothing, and very wise-sounding voice), and it's certainly made me intrigued in his book (which is now on the ever-expanding reading list!). Anyways, I thought I'd share, and hope some comments or opinions on the matter ensue!