I recently ran across a libertarian blog that discussed the Labor Theory of Value, or mutualism, at The Silent Liberal’s Blog. http://silent-radical.blogspot.com I find any discussion of an alternative to the present economic ideology of value but, in the end, I found the concept of mutualism disturbing because it appears as a cloaking of destructive capitalist ideology. Mostly, my concern stems from the association with the Libertarian Labor Theory of Value with the concept of meritocracy. Meritocracy is a social concept that denies the human propensity toward the inequality of social opportunity. It stems from a mystical disgust at the concept that someone may get something for “free” in a viable economic community. It is the same disgust that Reaganomics ideologues used to establish the “workfare” system of government assistance for those in dire economic straits. I am not interested in debating the benefits or problems of “workfare” as a system but the problematic concept of meritocracy as a system for determining division of the economic pie in a society. The idea of meritocracy arises from a uniquely American belief rooted in Ben Franklin’s “by the bootstraps” philosophy of upward social mobility.
This particular philosophy has been around for generations, being especially popular among white, blue collar proletarians and petty bourgeoisie. It’s recent resurgence among Libertarians and cybertechies strikes me as a backlash against the failure of corporate capitalists to keep their implied promise of perpetual prosperity among the newly educated technical elite. That most of these technical elites benefited from a kind of corporate noblesse oblige escapes their notice or never entered their thoughts.
This particular philosophy has been around for generations, being especially popular among white, blue collar proletarians and petty bourgeoisie. It’s recent resurgence among Libertarians and cybertechies strikes me as a backlash against the failure of corporate capitalists to keep their implied promise of perpetual prosperity among the newly educated technical elite. That most of these technical elites benefited from a kind of corporate noblesse oblige escapes their notice or never entered their thoughts.
The despicable concept of noblesse oblige that once mitigated class power discrepancies in Western, liberal democracies has fallen to the incredibly pernicious concept of meritocracy, which ignores the very real cultural and social obstacles to the economic well-being of poor, lower class citizens. In truth, in today’s Western societies individuals in positions of power who profess that contemporary citizens of western democracies live within a meritocratic society structure opportunity for economic and professional advancement in ways that only members of their shared social class may access. When members of a disadvantaged class or ethnicity use capitalist techniques to advance themselves economically but refuse to adopt the trappings of the social elite they will eventually face legal charges of some sort. When members of a disadvantaged class or ethnicity appear in the ranks of the elite rest assured those individuals are masters of social gamesmanship who have altered, drastically camouflaged or otherwise buried the distinctive practices and beliefs of their non-elite background. Should such individuals display aspects of their socio/cultural background after their acceptance into the ranks of the social elite, rest assured they will be brought to task for their indiscretion and publically condemned for their lapse, as has been repeatedly demonstrated in the current US presidential election.
One of the true beauties of the American political experiment is that the founding fathers recognized and attempted to compensate for the failures of the human spirit. Fail safes and catch clauses were incorporated into the federal system of government to guard against the kind of unfairness and incompetency that would most surely appear within any enterprise tasked with governing and monitoring human affairs. That meritocracy is subject to the same human failings as any other system of human justice is evidenced in the American attempt to establish a civil service system based upon personal merit and performance. Any visit to nearly any BMV of any state in the nation will clearly demonstrate the success of that experiment.
One of the true beauties of the American political experiment is that the founding fathers recognized and attempted to compensate for the failures of the human spirit. Fail safes and catch clauses were incorporated into the federal system of government to guard against the kind of unfairness and incompetency that would most surely appear within any enterprise tasked with governing and monitoring human affairs. That meritocracy is subject to the same human failings as any other system of human justice is evidenced in the American attempt to establish a civil service system based upon personal merit and performance. Any visit to nearly any BMV of any state in the nation will clearly demonstrate the success of that experiment.
