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[Mit ]
[Name of Instructor]
[Sociology]
[1/29/2019]
Where would you be? In the front? The back? The middle?
I would be standing in the middlehow would it feel to be there?
I would feel stuck in between. Halfway to the front and halfway to the back. Maybe not sure of my identity. Do you think some people would be more motivated to run the race than others?
Yes, those who believe their hard work can change their fate will be motivated to run the race and win the gift, but those who have been hopeless by constantly been neglected in the society will eventually be disheartened towards anything that can alter their position in the society. They would accept their faith and be okay with wherever they stand, not running towards the gift.Does the winner deserve the gift card?
No, because the running distance for people was not the same. Some were standing in the middle, some in front and some at the back. It is keeping this circumstance in front if the one standing in front wins the race that isn't a meritocracy. That becomes favour, in a sense that it gives him a short length to run.
What if some people in the back refused even to run. Would it be their fault for losing?
It will not be their fault if they refuse to run because that is where they have always felt they belong to. Their social status per defined by the society make them inferior, and most of them don't have the guts even to believe that they can come forward too. They can change their positions too and that they can dare to compete too. It is a socially constructed phenomenon that those who are behind will always be behind and it becomes the society’s fault to make them believe in what is not their fault.
Would it be reasonable for the winner to frame their victory in terms of "meritocracy" - saying "my victory is fair and just because it demonstrates that I am the best runner?"
It would not be a meritocracy. Merit would be keeping everything equal. The social class, equal gender roles, same level of education. In an uneven world, I don't think the term merit makes sense. What, if anything, do you think this teaches us about our society's belief in "meritocracy" - the idea that people are where they are in a society based on their merit, character and hard work?
To me, merit seems just a fancy word which has nothing to do with hard work. Those who work hard if they belong to middle class won't even be recognised in front of those who are considered first-class people. First class people own companies, and with the power, in their money, they can even buy merit.
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