These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favour of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the promise that "you can make it if you try". And the consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fuelled populist protest, with the triumph of Brexit and election of Donald Trump.
Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the polarized politics of our time, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalisation and rising inequality. Sandel highlights the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success - more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility, and more hospitable to a politics of the common good.
##精英们不因将成功归结为纯个人努力的结果,也无权为“失败者”决定所谓的“机会平等”和补偿,真正的良好社会则在于,培养公民意识,通过广泛而平等的公共商议,协力寻找并追求无论成功与否都能获得尊严和幸福的共同价值
评分##2.5 Looks like his writing is paid by number of words and his narration number of hours lol. This writing style ugh
评分##我在豆瓣上标注这本书 想起一个标题梗 The Tyranny of Douban,懂么,懂了就明白这本书想说明什么了。
评分给我带来非常多思考的一本书,书写上逻辑严谨,层层递进非常舒服。重设了我很多概念的先验认知并联系起来,比如meritocracy之于当下的popularism,polarization和demoralization;比如technocracy加上globalization之于美国这四十年来日益加剧的inequality;比如liberal market,american dream之于meritocracy的必然,从而改变social welfare,(经济学上将近半世纪的著名争论!)而后又如何导向现在盛行的credentialism再进一步强化meritocracy与mobility的日益不可能。我想把它武断地推荐给每一个人,它不是一部全对的书,但会让人或社会变得更公正,更可能,我想。
评分##剖析了meritocracy的内在逻辑以及它如何导致了美国和世界范围内日渐兴起的民粹主义。不仅对政治经济这样的“大问题”颇具启发,也帮助我反思自己所受的成长和教育环境的影响—那些由“标签”与“比较”带来的纠结—以及自身不假思索的精英主义倾向。美中不足的是,作者对the tyranny of meritocracy所提出的实质解决方案相对有限,而且主要集中在精英大学录取制度的层面,而没有触及如何将其所倡导的公民美德教育普及给更广泛的社会阶层。不过,相信这本书是一个好的开始,希望在未来,不同阶级,身份的人都可以骄傲地说,“我们都有光明的前途。”
评分##更新:看了 Michael Young 1958 年出版的那本 the rise of meritocracy 后这本书减一星。桑德尔总是不喜欢下结论,或者说他总是得不到最根本的结论,就是我们需要多样化的标准。|本来只是自己有感想觉得meritocracy有问题而打开了这本书,没想到这本书…改变了我现在看一切东西的眼光。第一次真的觉得可以理解现在世界上的populist backlash、反精英潮流、反国际贸易的情绪,我感觉可以理解甚至我也有相似的感觉。(虽然还是对Sandel的文风不太喜欢
评分##2.5 Looks like his writing is paid by number of words and his narration number of hours lol. This writing style ugh
评分##听了一个小时 Michael Sanders 的 podcast,只能说,这个问题简直就是针对中国父母来的吧。可惜那些能听得进这些意见的人,估计也不会搞什么起跑线 to begin with..
评分给我带来非常多思考的一本书,书写上逻辑严谨,层层递进非常舒服。重设了我很多概念的先验认知并联系起来,比如meritocracy之于当下的popularism,polarization和demoralization;比如technocracy加上globalization之于美国这四十年来日益加剧的inequality;比如liberal market,american dream之于meritocracy的必然,从而改变social welfare,(经济学上将近半世纪的著名争论!)而后又如何导向现在盛行的credentialism再进一步强化meritocracy与mobility的日益不可能。我想把它武断地推荐给每一个人,它不是一部全对的书,但会让人或社会变得更公正,更可能,我想。