The key issue of meritocracy (we focus our reference to Greece - in a nutshell) primarily concerned the ancient Greek Philosophers and was agreed upon by Aristotle, the theoretical founder of meritocracy, and Plato. Athens adopted meritocracy as an aristocracy in the sense of promoting the most worthy, the best through democratic procedures.
It is known that the ancient Greek leaders, with Pericles as the first, paid special attention to meritocracy regardless of whether the arrogance of power led some to unworthy choices with the known negative effects, especially of jealousy. Thucydides in the Epitaph of Pericles, referring to envy towards the best, writes: "Envy for the living towards the opponent…". Also known to Periander is the infamous "they cling to the superior ".
Demosthenes said the most important thing, which is valid to a greater extent today,: "The evil of society is due to paraxia happy "! After all, are not the gesture of Christ with the loaf in the Temple of Solomon as well as the curse on the barren fig tree indirectly related to unworthiness?
The same was true in Byzantium, where some leaders promoted meritocracy, but because of the unworthy policies of others and the resulting corruption, it ended in tragedy!
In modern Greece, the Constitution of Epidaurus states that: "All Greeks in all positions and honors have the same right. The only giver of these worthiness of each ". And it is a fact that some enlightened, worthy and whole leaders like them Kapodistrias and Kolokotronis, were distinguished for their meritocratic policy, and this was the reason why unworthy, corrupt circuits, with the involvement of foreign anti-Greek agents, killed the former and imprisoned the latter with tragic results!
Since then, the term meritocracy has become a symbol of party and trade union choices, resulting in the social division and the serious decline of Greece and its transformation into a "protectorate" and a pool of bleeding human lives (Balkan Wars, Asia Minor Campaign, Second World War) , Korea), workforce and -especially- brains). And instead of meritocracy, opacity, cunning, cunning, servitude, formalism, cold Mandarinism, parasitism prevail! It is strange that in recent decades, when unworthiness and corruption have hit the red, the issue of meritocracy is considered "prohibitive" and few have dealt with it, some for personal gain, hypocritically, but some with a pure intention to point out its negative parameters and sensitize the "competent".
The main responsibility for ignoring, marginalizing and distorting meritocracy, with all that entails, lies with the institutions - especially the Ministry of Education - which did not take care to promote it as it should. But when there is a spirit of social exclusion, trade, bribery, etc., which have been imposed by parties and opaque unions in the institutions, and there is no necessary meritocracy infrastructure, which meritocracy and which democracy do we have the right to talk about? Even when the above-mentioned divisive, murderous "murder of the superiors" of Periadros is still more strongly valid, and when the Greek youth is still nurtured by Karagiozis models and by the media subculture, etc. As for the "coronary unworthiness", let the praisers dare to tell the truth!
As for virtues such as -selectively- love, justice, moderation, morality, courage, prudence, solidarity, courage, temperance, honesty, compromise, etc., meritocracy has the primacy, which is the womb of all because only meritocrats, people with real qualifications - and not party affiliates, etc. unsafe circuits - in positions of responsibility, in positions, can create the genuine meritocracy infrastructure in all areas of national becoming, and teach the above virtues so that they become property and are applied. Also, meritocracy is the quintessence and the Lydia Stone of the true consolidation and application of these virtues through the correct knowledge and experience.
After all, it is now "Sunshine brighter", that (we have repeated it) without meritocracy there is no genuine democracy but democracy (the state of the executioners, of the privileged), of, as mentioned before, according to Demosthenes, "strangely happy, who with immoral and illegal means maintain their privileges at the expense of the people and the nation.
P.I.Karafotias
Former Managing Director of the UN Office for Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Professor of International Relations, author.
