Polemicus Society: Meritocracy with Russ Greene

We all know that unlike hereditary caste systems, medieval aristocracies, and communist dystopias, the free market is a meritocracy where everyone's success is determined by their personal merit...right? But if that's true, why did Friedrich Hayek say that: In a free system it is neither desirable nor practicable that material re­wards should be made generally to correspond to what men rec­ognize as merit... Russ Greene argues that despite the concept's popularity as a conservative talking point, "meritocracy is not a core tenet of the American creed and has little to do with America’s economic system." Is Russ just being pedantic here? Don't markets — because they reward skill, talent, and hard work far more than other systems — clearly qualify as "meritocratic" under all but the most rigid definitions of the term? Or is it important to distinguish between a system governed by measurable merit and one governed by voluntary interactions among individuals? At the next meeting of the Polemicus Society, we'll confront Russ with these questions. Doors open and dinner begins at 5:30. The discussion begins at 6:00 PM. This is a private event. Participants must RSVP and be approved in order to attend.