Merit

A good argument can be made that in a free market economy each person can succeed according to their ability. This assumes that each person has an equal opportunity but that is not the case. Children from wealthy families have an advantage. There are more students in Ivy League schools from the top one percent of wealthy families than the remaining 99% of families. This can be corrected by adjusting admission standards and that is currently happening. Sometimes things are not that simple. If a young man is born Black it often means from a low income family and that is more difficult to correct. Does the government just give his family money or does the university adjust its entrance requirements. In the National Basketball Association 80% of the players are Black. It appears that they have natural talents in this area. Adjusting for this discrepancy would be very difficult. Should the NBA limit the number of Black players to 12% which is what Blacks represent in the general population. 42% of students are MIT are Asian Americans. Should this be adjusted down to the 5% they represent in the population. Does competition, by its nature, breed inequality. When changes are made to compensate for unequal opportunity by adjusting results serious problems arise. When one person has the talent to earn lots of money should some of that be taken from them. Going down this path begs the question as to who decides how to adjust for opportunity and for results.