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David and Helen talk to the philosopher Michael Sandel about the damage that the idea of rewarding people on merit has done to education, democracy and public life. Why is it wrong to try to match the best students to the best universities? What is credentialism and how has it warped the way work is rewarded? Whatever happened to the idea of the common good? Plus we discuss America's sense of itself as God's chosen nation in the age of Obama and Trump.
Talking Points:
Places like Stanford and Harvard have more than 40,000 applicants for 2,000 places. Most of these applicants are qualified.
For decades, we have been told that the solution to inequality is individual upward mobility through higher education.
What kind of jobs has the shift towards credentialism encouraged?
The money people make, or the recognition they receive, is not a measure of their contribution to the common good.
There has been a structural, material transformation in Western economies since the 1980s that has gone hand and hand with the rise of credentialism and financialisation.
What happened to the nation as a source of identity and belonging?
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
4.7
622622 ratings
David and Helen talk to the philosopher Michael Sandel about the damage that the idea of rewarding people on merit has done to education, democracy and public life. Why is it wrong to try to match the best students to the best universities? What is credentialism and how has it warped the way work is rewarded? Whatever happened to the idea of the common good? Plus we discuss America's sense of itself as God's chosen nation in the age of Obama and Trump.
Talking Points:
Places like Stanford and Harvard have more than 40,000 applicants for 2,000 places. Most of these applicants are qualified.
For decades, we have been told that the solution to inequality is individual upward mobility through higher education.
What kind of jobs has the shift towards credentialism encouraged?
The money people make, or the recognition they receive, is not a measure of their contribution to the common good.
There has been a structural, material transformation in Western economies since the 1980s that has gone hand and hand with the rise of credentialism and financialisation.
What happened to the nation as a source of identity and belonging?
Mentioned in this Episode:
Further Learning:
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