the death of meritocracy

There was an interesting piece recently by Douglas Coupland predicting the death of the middle class.

http://boingboing.net/2010/10/09/douglas-couplands-de.html

There is certainly something happening, though I am not sure that it is exactly the death of the middle class. I suspect that it might be the death of the meritocracy. Because we broadly live in a meritocratic society, we tend to assume that things have always been meritocratic and will always be meritocratic. But look back a few hundred years and you were born to your station in life, and there was virtually no potential for social mobility. Those 'middle class' type jobs that might exist for those not born to the landed gentry, required substantial capital and expertise. The sheer amount of very specific and expensive equipment required to be a printer or a miller put those occupations beyond anyone not borne to it.

There were very substantial barriers to entry for these occupations.

I grew up in an era when if you were bright enough and did well at school you could go to university and about 10% of the school did. In theory with a degree you were capable of one of the more skilled but not highly specific jobs that existed and with luck you could obtain one. Now about 50% of the school go to university, accumulate a significant debt, but the chances of obtaining a job have diminished significantly. Currently 17 teaching students are chasing every job, in a profession where the supply and demand are pretty much entirely controlled by the government.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Talent-39being-wasted39-as-17.6550905.jp

A lot of formerly graduate level jobs that required intelligence and flexibility are now disappearing. IT is allowing processes to be streamlined, Amazon replaces thousands of stores, algorithms replace expertise, banks don't really need 'bank managers' anymore.

There is a gap opening up between the superstar jobs that require brains, and the generic jobs that are not difficult to fill, the call centres and salespeople.

We need to think carefully about what sort of society we actually want to live in and figure out how to get there. By merely blundering on we risk returning to a very unequal society with no social mobility.