Merit and Just Deserts

Do you remember as a child being told by your parents, Who said life is fair? Well, it turns out that they were not very far from the truth. Fairness on a deeper and more philosophical level is the concept of merit and dessert, and we face it on a daily basis. Louis Pojman’s article Merit: Why Do We Value It? considers the idea of one getting what one deserves. From good deeds spring rewards; from the bad comes punishment. I agree with him completely. The thought is deeply entrenched in nearly every religion, and throughout history, countless great minds have examined the idea. The Greek poet Simonides defined justice as rendering each person his due. Merit and dessert goes hand-in-hand with justice, but justice is too often wrongly distributed. Undeserved merit is a common and frustrating fact. We have all seen the mediocre celebrities who rake in millions of dollars while individuals that are more talented struggle financially with work that is seen or heard by only a few. We may know of student-athletes who can barely read beyond an elementary level that are offered scholarships while more academically-qualified students are left without opportunity for college or are burdened with student loan payments long after graduation. These unqualified people and so many others like them are handed over special consideration based upon natural lottery of looks or physical ability.

The idea of merit and desert is apparent in many religions. According to Pojman, in the Hindu and Buddhist faiths, karma is a means of just reward through succeeding reincarnations. The text, Whatsoever person sows that shall he also reap, is prominent in the Judeo-Christian writings. And the Hebrew Bible, reminds us that the wicked are condemned, like the chaff which the wind drives away, and he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly (1999, p. 90). The convention of every faith is based upon the most common of all virtues…the Golden Rule. One’s actions are always returned to them, good or bad.

John Rawls once stated, No one deserves his greater natural capacity nor merits a more favorable starting place in society. The natural distribution of talents is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that men are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts (Spagnoli, 2008). Rawls is correct. However, undeserved merit and accolades occur constantly. It is the way of society, but as Rawls states, it is up to society to choose how to best deal with the matter of fairness.

Celebrities often receive undeserved merit, based on image alone. Talent, even in the creative world seems to be a secondary qualification for recognition. Journalist Alan Woods describes this phenomenon as this: The celebrity status has become more important than the art (2003). The ego is more interesting than the so-called ability. In today’s culture, there is an obsession with these mass-produced celebrities, but it is some akin to watching a train wreck rather than a production of anything that qualifies as art. In the meantime, these people are not only pulling in millions of dollars, but also becoming the role models of our younger generations.

However, pop celebrities are not the only ones who receive what Pojman refers to as non-deserved merit (1999, p. 86). One only has to look as far as their cable sports channel to find dozens of athletes who have been deemed heroes of the field or court. But how did some of these people get there? Frankly, it is not only scary, but also bit disheartening to hear a post-game interview with a college senior, born in any of our fifty states, who can barely speak coherently. Of course, grade-fixing and other interesting loopholes have always served those with athletic prowess. A New York Times article cites one such loophole in the guise of correspondence courses for high school diplomas at the cost of $399 each (Thamel & Wilson, 2005). The National College Athletic Association actually allowed these store-bought diplomas as qualification for not only college enrollment, but for scholarships as well. A non-athlete would have little-to-no chance of entering the universities mentioned in the article, including University of Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, Auburn and several others, with the same such credentials. This, as with the talentless artists, points to a sad state of our culture, but again, as our parents pointed out, Who said life is fair?

To most, merit, dessert and justice are interchangeable. Louis Pojman wrote, from the good come rewards; from the bad come punishment. In an ideal world, he is correct. But the world is not always fair. Rawls wrote that institutions must deal with merit and dessert in an appropriate manner. Throughout history, that has not always been the case. Obviously, it remains to be seen if it ever will.

According to Pojman, if we witnessed justice in the cosmic sense, we would require that the evil suffer in proportion to their vices and good would prosper in accordance to their virtue (1999, p.100). If merit and deserts worked as Rawls, John Locke and even Carl Marx envisioned it should, humanitarians, the occasional political leader, and countless groundbreaking physicians and scientists would hold court instead of the Brittany Spears and Terrell Owens of the world. Still, in the end, it is best for one to embrace the Golden Rule and remember that one’s actions are always returned to them, good or bad. Who knows when justice may just fall the right way?

References

Pojman, L. (1999). Merit: Why Do We Value It? Journal of Social Philosophy, Volume 30, No. 1 , 83-102.

Spagnoli, F. (2008, December 30). Human Rights Quote (103). Retrieved April 10, 2009, from PapBlog: http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/human-rights-quote-103-justice-and-merit-according-to-aristotle-and-rawls/

Thamel, P., & Wilson, D. (2005, November 27). Poor Grades Aside, Athletes Get Into College on a $399 Diploma. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/sports/ncaafootball/27school.html?_r=1

Walters, J. (2004, May 04). Southern discomfort. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from Guardian.co.uk: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/may/04/highereducation.internationaleducationnews

Woods, A. (2003, December 16). Capitalist fetishism and the decay of art . Retrieved April 11, 2009, from In Defense of Marxism: http://www.marxist.com/capitalist-fetishism-decay-art.htm