In his classic study Democracy in America (1835),
Alexis de Tocqueville described what he believed was a true
meritocracy at work. Here was a country lacking a nobility and an
aristocracy. The Adamses, the closest America had to an elite,
recently had been voted out of office, usurped by that Tennessee
ruffian Old Hickory. For years, Tocqueville’s analysis seemed
prophetic. Seven U.S. presidents were hatched in log cabins before
the New England Establishment re-established itself.
The reign of the WASPs lasted well into the 20th century. But by
the 1960s, America had elected its first Irish Catholic president
and its prestigious colleges and universities were (theoretically,
at least) thrown open to all smart kids — as opposed to all
privileged kids.
Of course, we all know what happened in the 1960s. Things fell
apart. And things have been falling apart ever since.
The lesson here is that one needs more than brains to be an
effective leader/manager. The old elite knew this instinctively.
Math skills were not as valuable as traditional values, a sense of
duty, ethics, judgment, empathy and, most important, good posture.
What’s more, the old establishment had noblesse oblige
drilled into them from birth, they were “bred to rule with grace
and wisdom,” notes author Chris Hayes.
For all their faults, the Bluebloods took responsibility for
their debacles, unlike today’s too-smart-to-fail
Quants who think accountability is for the 99 percent. If your
too-big-to-fail company loses billions you still deserve a giant
bonus. If your crazy, risky, multi-billion-dollar bets on toxic
securities nearly sinks the entire inter-connected global economy,
well, to quote Rick Perry: “Oops.” That is how meritocracy works.
Or doesn’t.
The WASPs were rooted, even if their home turf was the rarified
soil of Boston or Connecticut. Today’s status-crazed meritocrats
remind one of wealthy gypsies. They drift (first class, naturally)
wherever money or power blows them. Jon Corzine may be the epitome
of the new meritocratic elite. Corzine left his family farm outside
Taylorville, Illinois, to become U.S. Senator, New Jersey governor,
and CEO of Goldman Sachs. Along the way he helped destroy both New
Jersey’s economy and his former Wall Street firm, MF Global. Had he
stayed on the farm where he belonged he would have had a far less
destructive impact.
DURING THE OLD WASP dynasty power and privilege were handed down
from generation to generation. That’s not supposed to happen
anymore. Meritocrats are supposed to have Horatio Alger
story lines, though they seldom do. For every Farmer Jon Corzine
there are a hundred morally challenged Boaz Weinsteins,
Peter Orszags and Timothy Geithners from elite ethnic East Coast
backgrounds. Today, an established Tiger Mom’s cubs have a far
better chance of getting into an Ivy League school than a smart
poor kid from the sticks, because a) her children will have
inherited smart kid genes, and b) mom can afford to hire the best
consultants, tutors and lawyers who know exactly what it takes to
get into Princeton. Sorry, I mean Harvard.
Why anyone thought meritocracy was going to be a boon for the
country is beyond me. Wasn’t it The Best and the Brightest
that got us into the mess in Vietnam? And weren’t the Enron crooks
the “smartest guys in the room”? Say what you will about the old
establishment, but the WASPs did what was good for the country out
of a sense of duty. The new elite do what is good for their
pocketbooks and their children’s pocketbooks.
Where have you gone Teddy Roosevelt? A nation turns its lonely
eyes to you.
