On the tryanny of merit

This video promoting the book “the tyranny of merit” by Michael Sandel was brought to my attention a few days ago. I found the video so objectionable and misleading that I could not resist filing my disagreement (even though through the medium of my personal blog).

Overall, Sandel throws a few straw-man arguments (and arguments premised on wrong assumptions) and tries to make wrong conclusions from them. 

A few very brief points about the video (please watch the video before going through the points below): 

1. Many billionaires with whom I am familiar (not personally of course, but through biographies, etc.,) are very humble, and are very recognizant of their situation, limitations, and the role of luck in their lives. That is why they often contribute to charities and some other causes. There are exceptions as matter of course. 

2. This is the first time I am hearing someone claiming that “the money people make is the measure of their contribution to the common good”!!! He claims that ‘we’ often assume it to be so. I do not know which ‘we’ he refers to. Has anyone ever heard of this strange argument? I assume this is another straw-man argument or wrong assumption he needs to just come to his conclusions. (I guess in the end, things will be hammered down to the definition of the common good.)

3. I absolutely agree that every job should be seen as a dignified job. For me, the garbage picking job is as dignified as any other job that contributes to social welfare. But does that mean that the salaries in every job should be equal or even nearly equal? Of course, a garbage picking job is absolutely essential to society, but should a garbage picker earn (nearly) as much as a physician do? We know that potable water is also absolutely vital to us, but we pay more for a piece of (seemingly useless) diamond than we do for potable water, and there is a good reason for that. 

There is more wrong stuff there, but for the want of time, let’s skip them. I deliberately refrain from entering into some political/ideological stuff in the video. I have not read the book, I sincerely hope that the book is more subtle and nuanced than this video.