The Tyranny of Merit

What's Become of the Common Good?

By: Michael J. Sandel

Narrated by: Michael J. Sandel

Brought to you by Penguin.

These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favour of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the promise that "you can make it if you try". And the consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fuelled populist protest, with the triumph of Brexit and election of Donald Trump.

Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the polarized politics of our time, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalisation and rising inequality. Sandel highlights the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success - more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility, and more hospitable to a politics of the common good.

© Michael J. Sandel 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critic reviews

Sandel is the most important and influential living philosopher. (Paul Collier)

The Tyranny of Merit is original, lively and no mere critique: unlike many others who have written on the "sorting" of society into winners and losers, Sandel produces a persuasive argument about the kind of community we should seek ... The Tyranny of Merit is an important work, and makes a profound point that our leaders would do well to understand. (Nick Timothy)

Engaging and timely... an insightful critique of where our societies went wrong... that will help us to heal our divided societies (Matthew Goodwin)

He is good at dismantling the cheap language of recent politics... compelling, too, in diagnosing the growing use of discriminatory language (Julian Glover)

Credentialism is the last acceptable prejudice... blends fact, analysis and opinion in eminently readable non-fiction (Rana Foroohar)

well-argued, clear, and nicely timed to appeal to the growing disillusionment with meritocracy. (Simon Kuper)

"rich in moral exhortation - the kind that does your soul good" (Polly Toynbee)

Interesting point

This is the 4th books I read following Justice What is the right thing to do?, what money can’t buy? and Public Philosophy and this book by Mr. Sandel. When we look back in the past and it’s become even more evident now that society seem to praise on the more educated and success is measure on the level of wealth and opportunities to govern the less unfortunate and low income, in which would create even more inequality and income gap, to put Meritocracy in perspectives, we all need to understand the limit of merit system and how we look at our success that is suggested in this book, but in term of practical, it would be other challenging !

Profoundly enlightening

I was today years old when I realized that my thoughts and beliefs about the systems of merit were fundamentally flawed. This book not only explains why, but it gives practical recommendations for what we can do to rectify the unintended consequences of these systems. A fascinating read

Some thoughts we should all have

A great look on our moral.
It's focused on USA society but it can apply to most of the world.

So important for our time of tumult

If only everyone could read this book, the world would have a chance of organising itself in a fair fairer and just way. Brilliant in every way:

Great book!

Brilliant ideas to improve mankind and society. Even though it focuses on American society, the same principles apply to make other societies more humane and give their less favored members the opportunity of a happier life.