Liyah Lopez

English 1A

October 31st, 2017

Moore vs Meritocracy

Sitting in business class, I hear my peers connect the materials we learn to the Marketing

summer camp they attended. Others contribute what they have learned from their accounting

courses at their high school. If theres a difficult concept, some resort to calling their parents who

have been in the business industry for 25 years. I, on the other hand, resort to google and talk to

my parents about everything Ive encountered in college, something they were never able to

experience themselves. Sitting in business class, I am held to a disadvantage. I was never able to

discuss the stock markets with my parents or discuss microeconomic theories with Bill Gates

son. Although I work hard, the experience and opportunities I have lacked will hold a detriment

against me. The idea of meritocracy is commonly heard when discussing sports and the

American Dream; If you work hard, you can achieve anything. However this statement does not

consider the contributing factors to the effectiveness of hard work. In the memoir, The Other

Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore, Moore addresses the idea that your

background can predetermine your fate. In Chris Hayes book, Twilight of the Elites: America

after Meritocracy, Hayes outlines the validity of meritocracy and the factors socioeconomic

upbringings play on its credibility. Through Hayes argument against meritocracy, the roles

socioeconomics and demographics play on the opportunities given to both Wes Moores in The

Other Wes Moore become evident as very few people achieve social mobility based on their

background and education is limited.

 The Other Wes Moores mother, Mary, understood this first handedly as her

opportunities were cut short, her Pell Grant was her playing field. Many of the generation

before mine believed that maybe they did, but they had the rug pulled from them by cuts in

programs like Pell Grants or by the myriad setbacks that came with the age of crack(Moore

161). However as the Pell Grant got cut, her playing field became less level and her opportunities

shrunk. Hayes addresses this idea of unequal advantages in his book, There is no such thing as a

level playing field Theres always going to be some type of advantage(Hayes 37). Mary was

smart enough and deserved to attend college, she had everything is took to get a higher

education. Yet, Mary was not able afford college without the Pell Grant and consequently was

unable to attend. Mary could have work just as hard as any other student, but if that other student

was from a financially well-off background, they automatically had the advantage. The challenge

was not that Mary wasnt good enough, the challenge was that, financially, her opportunities

were limited.

In Wes Moores piece, we see the effect that money carries on Wes educational

advancement and can connect it to Hayes perception of merit and its relevance to wealth. Moore

states, My grandparents took the money they had in the home in the Bronx, decades of saving

and mortgage payments, and gave it to my mother so that she could pay for my first year of

military school (Moore 96). Narrator Wes Moore was given this opportunity due to his familys

ability to pay for his schooling, not necessarily his academic ability. Hayes argues that with

wealth comes meritocracy when he claims, The pyramid of merit has to come to mirror the

pyramid of wealth and cultural capital (Hayes 54). Regardless of how the money was obtained,

that wealth was what gave Wes Moore the opportunity to attend military school, further his

education, and over time develop himself into a well-groomed person. This claim is beyond just
being able to afford good schooling, it goes on to address the connections you have, your first

hand-experience, and background that gives an advantage over other students. Narrator Wes

Moore coming from a background where college was not a question of if but a question of

where, displays Hayes pyramid idea. Narrator Wes Moore came from a more wealthy and

educated background than Other Wes Moore leading to the drastically different lifestyles of both

men. Concerning the two men, meritocracy was not the sole factor but also the wealth and

culture they were surrounded by.

Other Wes Moore is quick to realize the disadvantages held against him and his chances

of social mobility as he searches for a new job. Moore states, A year after completing the Job

Corps training, Wes realized the only consistency in his employment of inconsistency. That, and

the fact that none of these jobs paid over nine dollars an hour(Moore 144). Regardless of how

hard Other Wes Moore worked to make more of his financial situation, there were several factors

constraining him. Hayes discusses the concept of limited social mobility when he states, The

Iron Law of Meritocracy states that eventually the inequality produced by a meritocratic system

will grow large enough to subvert the mechanisms of mobility. Unequal outcomes make equal

opportunity impossible (Hayes 57). The hard work Other Wes Moore puts into trying to

improve his financial situation is disregarded by the standards of unequal mechanisms of

mobility. Through Hayes claim, we can see why it was so difficult for Other Wes Moore to

advance further in his work force, the odds were held against him from the beginning.

In The Other Wes Moore, the narrator Wes Moore experiences the structure of racial

class in South Africa and judgement of people based off of their skin color. Colored was a

concept created during the apartheid era to further isolate the races-- coloreds received more

privileges than blacks did. Not many more but enough to see antagonism between the two
groups. The lighter your skin was in apartheid South Africa, the better off you were(Moore

167). Narrator Moore observes the invalidity of meritocracy in South Africa as it is affected by

racial standards. Hayes discusses the argues against perfect meritocracy and its relation to race in

his statement, In a meritocracy, people are not judged on the color of their skin, but on the

content of their character In reality our meritocracy has failed not because its too meritocratic,

but because in practice, it isnt very meritocratic at all(Hayes 51). Classification based off of

racial diversity is a leading cause as to why it is so difficult for meritocracy to be truly attained.

Because the groups in South Africa are classified by the color of their skin, there is no level

playing field and working hard is much less of a contributor to success.

Although the argument against meritocracy and how that is perceived throughout The

Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates seems discouraging, it is important to acknowledge the

reality of it. The truth of the matter is that no matter how hard you work, the playing field will

never be level as life is full of advantages and disadvantages. The Other Wes Moore allowed the

lack of meritocracy to define him meanwhile Narrator Wes Moore allowed himself to understand

the disadvantages surrounding him and worked off of them. Perfect meritocracy is unattainable

and social mobility is limited but it is how you react off of it that determines your character and

evidently, your success.

WORKS CITED

Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. Spiegel & Grau Trade Paperbacks,

2011.

Hayes, Christopher. Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy. Broadway Books, 2013.