On Dec 5, 2011, at 2:27 PM, Michael Smith wrote:
> On Mon, 5 Dec 2011 14:05:09 -0800
> martin schiller <mschiller at pobox.com> wrote:
>
>>> My criticism is directed to the actual institutions and their actual
>>> social function
>>
>> Which is (or is not)?
>
> Gatekeeping, basically; the legitimation of
> inequality under the factitious rubric of
> meritocracy.
>
I was taught that meritocracy attempted to counter favoritism/nepotism. The sorting function seems appropriate for an academy. Perhaps the merits are not appropriate, and need reevaluation.
If money were not a (the) problem we could go back to being students, and reinstitute the playground.