Design by Jesse Turri

“That is the great danger of meritocracy: the people who reach the top of the system are precisely the people who have most completely identified with the system and its demands, creating a vicious circle preventing any actual change. It is no accident that conservatives tend to employ the rhetoric of social mobility so readily, as social climbers generally do not ask questions about the ladder.”

…

“The experience of being brought into the system may start with some form of generosity, then, but it does not necessarily inculcate greater generosity of spirit. The person “graciously” let into the inner circle will likely feel like she has more to lose – and her inescapable skepticism about a system that won’t allow for direct identification may, in practice, lead to little more than a greater vigilance in avoiding being screwed over. That is to say, the outsider-turned-insider’s inability to fully identify with the system may actually provide an even greater incentive to act in the sociopathic ways the system demands. A broken system doesn’t just reward broken people-it produces them.”

Two great excerpts above from Adam Kotsko’s book Why We Love Sociopaths. I recommend it.

(A bit of context: in the second paragraph, Kotsko is discussing the show Mad Men, specifically the character “Peggy.” For those familiar with the show, it’ll make even more sense.)

Tags:adam kotskocapitalismmad mensociopathssociopathy