What Happened to Meritocracy?!

When I graduated from high school, it was quite the trend to get into college, and the fancier the profiles sounded, the more students they attracted. That’s how Romania ended up, in something like two decades, with tons of "college graduates" and very few job positions to actually match those diplomas.

The reality, though, is that many of these diplomas are literally backed by nothing—because graduating college in Romania is not hard at all. And what's even worse is that many of them have zero intrinsic value on the job market. I'm one of those people who literally graduated college for nothing.

I have a diploma in journalism, but I never practiced it. And the truth is, I know for a fact I never will—because of the compromises you have to make to actually work as a journalist.

When my parents were in high school, very few people were attending college back then—but once you graduated, you had pretty much zero chances of not finding a decent job. The communist system was, from what I’ve been told, somehow based on meritocracy. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing.

On one hand, I support seeing deserving individuals rewarded for their qualifications. On the other, I don’t think meritocracy should be only about a diploma—it should go beyond that.

Modern society has made meritocracy even worse, thanks to the corruptible nature of us humans. You might be wondering how I got to write about this shit today? Well, some dude around here inspired me to do it.

This guy hasn’t even graduated high school. His grammar sucks, his manners too—but he’s a speculator, he’s persistent, he works his ass off, and he managed to acquire an insane fortune by the age of fifty-something. Then you have doctors who’ve served people their entire lives and are sitting on way less than what this guy has.

Meritocracy has been literally in a coma—especially since social media spun out of control. Let me explain why... We've got all these influencers making millions a year, becoming role models for younger generations. But what do they actually bring to the table with their content?

Aside from ass, boobs, cheap flashy lifestyles, or fake drama—they literally create nothing of value. You don’t learn a damn thing watching their videos. (I think I already underlined this idea in a previous post.) Meanwhile, you’ve got plenty of smart creators out here talking about educational stuff and barely making any money off of it.

Both in the digital space and the real world, meritocracy is nearly absent—and it’s honestly painful to witness. I’m thinking about my father while writing this too. He’s a musician. He dedicated his life to art, and now he’s struggling to retire on a not-so-satisfying pension.

Even during his peak career years, he wasn’t properly rewarded. There were others in the same field, with far less talent, who got way more financial recognition—just because they had the right kind of exposure. Proper advertising...

So, where did meritocracy drown? I guess in the ocean of ignorance and complacency of the masses. And as technology evolves, I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.

It’s painful to say it, but I guess life wasn’t made to be fair...
Have a great day, and catch with you all next time.

Thanks for your attention,
Adrian