#205 — The Failure of Meritocracy

Sam Harris speaks with Daniel Markovits about the problems with
meritocracy. They discuss the nature of inequality in the United
States, the disappearance of the leisure class, the difference
between labor and capital as sources of inequality, the way the
education system amplifies inequality, the shrinking middle
class, deaths of despair, differing social norms among the elite
and the working class, the ethics of taxation, scales of
philanthropy, universal basic income, the need for a wealth tax,
the relationship between meritocracy and political polarization,
the illusion of earned advantages, and other topics.


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