# Is meritocracy overrated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 6, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-meritocracy-overrated/817385 "2018-07-06T13:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 229
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-meritocracy-overrated/817385/229 "2020-09-14T16:34:20Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I don’t really know how the government can change those attitudes, other than maybe through things that could show that education, sacrifice and hard work DO pay off now. So your position is that the government needs to figure out a way to change the black community, not that the government needs to figure out a way to change itself? Because that’s the read I’m getting. You’re not the first person I’ve encountered making such a claim, but I don’t think it’s nearly as enlightened as you might imagine. It’s just one more way of saying “the problem is with the community at disadvantage: if they are disadvantaged, it’s because they are disadvantaging themselves.” It’s only slightly less disingenuous, to my view, than opining that their “culture” must value poverty. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-meritocracy-overrated/817385)._