On Merit

I have recently been teaching aspects of Social and Political philosophy to my classes.

 Political philosophy concerns itself, among other things, with the question of what legitimizes government, in other words, what is it that government provides to the citizenry that makes the government worthwhile? 

There have been numerous answers to that question. Thomas Hobbes held that a government is legitimate and must be obeyed so long as it provides peace and security for its citizens. John Locke held that a government is legitimate so long as it protects the person, possessions and property rights of its citizens. Karl Marx held that a government is legitimate when it provides financial and social equality to all its citizens.

A second question asked by Political philosophy is how should goods, services and materials be distributed? What principles should be employed to determine who gets what? One of these principles holds that goods and services should be distributed based on merit. How are we then to define merit?

Well, Wade Phillips was, until yesterday, the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He is, by most all accounts, a very nice, unassuming, caring individual. He was well-liked by his players, and he did win some games; but, not this year. The Cowboys record is 1-7 at the midway point of the season, even though this is a team that was thought to be a Superbowl contender. He did not merit the opportunity to continue as the head coach. He was fired. Why? Because he did not perform in a meritorious manner.

My father would have understood the decision to fire Wade Phillips. My father was a man who believed that goods and services should be awarded based on merit.

I understand and agree with the firing of Wade Phillips because I believe that goods and services should be awarded based on merit.

Does that mean that I do not want to help the poor, serve the sick and needy, provide for a decent standard of living for all citizens? No. I do want to do these things. I want to see the unemployment benefits extended once again for all the citizens who have lost their jobs and cannot find jobs to replace those that have been lost. I want everyone who comes to the hospital in need of care to get that care. I want to see the young and the elderly cared for regardless of whether they have money to pay the freight or not. I am willing to have my tax burden increased in order to make this possible.

Having said all that, I also firmly believe that notions of merit should be reintroduced into our society, our educational institutions from elementary school forward, and into our government. What sort of government taxes the people in order to bail out AIG, Goldman Sachs, General Motors, and the list goes on. How in God's name do these institutions merit what they recieived? I do not beleive that they do.

It is also true that any number of our citizens made bad financial decisions, did not plan effectively, did not live within their means. What do they merit? Well, at least as much as AIG and Goldman Sachs. On a one time basis.

Both individuals and corporations need to once again operate on the principles of merit. Aristotle holds that one learns, if one tries hard, to become virtuous, and meritorious, over time. We just do not try hard enough. What should government do in the meantime?

A legitimate goverment would set things right. Many foreclosure proceeding should be cancelled at this point. Many credit card debts should be wiped from the books. Usury should be abolished. Truth in lending should be mandated by law. A legitimate government would set things right, and then start over teaching the meaning of merit.

We cannot depend upon goverment to provide for all our needs. We must once again learn to take care of ourselves and our own. We must have charity in our own hearts for our neighbors and fellow citiziens.

We must halt our constant cry for more rights and realize that we need to honor our committments. A right bestowed on one individual becomes an obligation for another person. We must all do our part, strive to be excellent, strive to be better. We must strive to be meritiorious. Larger government will not make us more meritorius. It will make us smaller, more needy, less in control and less free. Is that what we really want?