They won World War II, helped rebuild Europe and Japan, strengthened the welfare state, dismantled segregation, and presided over four decades of economic growth that flowed to rich and poor alike. The elites who governed the United States from 1940 to 1980 were far more successful. The first is the most obvious: Over the past four decades, meritocratic elites have not governed very well. “This morally blinkered way of conceiving merit and the public good has weakened democratic societies in several ways. The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? So please do not resent me, my privileges make you better off than you would otherwise be, the inequality you find galling is for your own good.” ![]() I do not morally deserve my superior pay and position, but I am entitled to them under fair rules of social cooperation, and remember, you and I would have agreed to these rules had we thought about the matter before we knew who would land on top and whom at the bottom. This is why some of my income is taxed away to help people like you. It is not your fault that you lack the talent society needs, nor is it my doing that I have such talents in abundance. My generous compensation package is simply an incentive necessary to induce me and others like me, to develop our talents for the benefit of all. "I am not worthier then you nor morally deserving of the privileged position I hold. ![]() “A wealthy CEO could justify his or her advantages to a lower paid worker on a factory floor as:
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