the truth is that meritocracy is just another failed utopian ideology that has no basis in empirical reality. it does not exist now, and it has never existed. frankly, i'm not convinced of the merits of meritocracy, but it doesn't matter, because all utopian ideologies are impossible.

what i'm interested in is empirical reality, not abstract utopian theory. what empirical reality tells me is that we live in an idiocracy and not a meritocracy and this is all pointless nonsense. the school system is largely for the rich, and it largely prepares women to do what is historically women's work, anyways.