Tirani Meritokrasi dan Reimajinasi Solidaritas: Sebuah Kajian Berdasarkan Perspektif Michael Sandel

Abstract

<p>This article presents Michael Sandel’s concept on the tyranny of meritocracy and reimagining of solidarity and its<br />relevance in Indonesia. Meritocracy is a kind of ideology that believes that those who are successful deserve to<br />breathe their success to their heart’s content, while for those who fail, there is no one to blame but themselves.<br />Sandel’s view is that this logic makes meritocracy undermines togetherness and solidarity as the ethical foundation<br />of democracy. The more we think that our success is our own effort, and the poor people’s failure as their own fault,<br />it is harder for us to imagine ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Meritocracy makes liberal society accepts as fair<br />the hierarchy between the rich and the poor, the smart and the stupid, or the successful and the unsuccessful. This<br />belief generates arrogance for the winners and contempt for the losers. For Sandel, Trump’s populism in the US is a<br />form of rebellion against the tyranny of meritocracy. To counter the tyranny of meritocracy and cultivate the<br />imagination of solidarity, we should propose the idea of humility as a public virtue. Humility is an acknowledgment<br />that all our talents, achievements, and success are not the results of our own efforts but rather it depends on the<br />resources of the community and society that accepts these talents and abilities.</p><p><br /><strong>Keywords:</strong> Meritocracy, Solidarity, Liberalism, Community, Humility.</p>