The Internet: a meritocracy come alive
Photo credit: j4nf1
Sexism, racism, classism, ableism … name an -ism and I’ll give you a reason why certain people are succeeding or failing. No one begins as a blank slate, especially not in this country.
If you are male, white, able-bodied, of middle- or upper-class, or any sort of combination thereof, you have an advantage. If not, you have a disadvantage. That is the way our world and society works, to everyone’s great dismay.
It shouldn’t, and doesn’t have to be this way, but changing takes a long time, and the process is far from over. Everyone who isn’t an upper- or middle-class white able-bodied male has, at some point, encountered the resistance. In frustration, they wish they could fulfill the true American dream - that they could simply ditch the labels and be evaluated based on what they can do.
This is the definition of meritocracy. Americans want meritocracy, a system in which success or failure is determined entirely by talent, ability and carefully honed skills. But America isn’t this way. It’s a system in which money and appearance open doors, and stereotypes and hasty perceptions close them: a system in which you are evaluated in a spilt second and your appearance can make or break you. Can a true meritocracy ever exist?
The closest thing we have to a meritocracy is the Internet. Even when you take into account that the judgments and perceptions inhibiting the real world translate to the Web via screen names and avatars, when it comes down to it, these identities are assumed. You’re essentially in complete isolation, and, as annoying as it is, assumed to be an able-bodied white male unless you provide contrary evidence, the fact is that everyone starts off on the same foot on the Internet.
Many aspects are free or relatively inexpensive - there are many free e-mail services, blogs, forums and news feeds. The only distinction is the identity you assume, and what you choose to say. If you start a blog, something easily done for free, and you have something interesting to say, you will earn respect and attention based on your ability. Everyone has a voice on the Internet.
Most people, however, don’t really let that statement sink in all the way and don’t consider what it really means. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has a voice on the Internet. Your voice has the same impact as a 13-year-old who just so happens to understand everything about the world and is happy to clear up any questions you may have. You have 10 years of experience as a political junkie, and your comment on presidential candidates appears sandwiched between one person who types nothing but “leet speak” acronyms and another person who cheerily confesses to their ignorance and then proceeds to describe why voting is completely pointless. Videos of raps about kittens and an edutainer hysterical over Britney Spears are given equal, if not more, views than the nightly news or presidential debates.
Just think about what various corners of the Internet are unabashedly promoting, from blatantly harmful sites that promote pedophilia - frankly, pedophiles should feel all alone in this world - to the unsettling sites, such as www.cousincouples.com, which provides strategies and support to couples who are cousins on how to deal with their friends and family.
There are also sites that are mundane and contribute to the mindlessness of our society, like www.virtualstapler.com, which includes stapler poetry, a stapler gallery and free stapler wallpapers for download. Surely you can think of more versions of dancing hamsters, Web sites that make you shake your head in despair or drop your mouse in horror. When people have the ability to freely express their opinions, desires and interests - this is the result.
This doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t be allowed to express their opinions, but it’s a testament to the way meritocracies, admirable as they may be in concept, work in the real world. When everyone has an equal voice, everyone ends up shouting their opinion. The result is a cacophony of confusing information that requires significant time to sort through, and judgment calls that frequently make use of the above “-ism” system that we despise so much.
Because the point of a meritocracy is fairness and equality, the Internet appears to have failed the test. But it is the closest step we have yet taken.
Read the original column online here.
