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Why meritocracy is a dangerous myth - Vox

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“Things we're not entitled to claim moral credit for are the driving forces behind success.” —Robert H. Frank “If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get that on your own,” President Obama declared four years ago at a campaign rally in Virginia. “If you’re successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.” Obama was pilloried for this statement. For conservatives, it was sacrilege, an offense against the individualist ethic. It’s a treasured mythology in America, this belief that hard work and a touch of grit is all one needs to succeed. Reality is more complicated than that, however. Talent and drive can take you a long way, but it’s often not enough. Luck, as it happens, is every bit as important. Being born to the right parents helps too. Robert H. Frank is a professor of economics at Cornell University and the author of a new book, Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy. The thesis of Success and Luck is quite simple: Luck is far more important to success i

Politics Why the myth of a perfect meritocracy is so pernicious “Things we’re not entitled to claim moral credit for are the driving forces behind success.” —Robert H. Frank by Sean Illing Updated Jul 12, 2018, 11:33 AM UTC Getty Images / Christina Reichl Photography Sean Illing is the host of The Gray Area podcast. "If you've been successful, you didn't get that on your own," President Obama declared four years ago at a campaign rally in Virginia. "If you're successful, somebody along the line gave you some help." Obama was pilloried for this statement. For conservatives, it was sacrilege, an

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