Meritocracy is also a social state in which people are judged not by their appearence, name, gender, sex, or any other arbitrary standard, but only on their abilities and skills. Meritocracy is much more evident in internet-related jobs and in the technology fields. I'm not sure why this is so, but it is fairly obvious that it is true. Maybe geeks are so strange that people have learned more toleration for what is different than them. *grin*

It is the natural extension of all civil rights movements. Relating to the Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States, it would appear to me that during that time black people were fighting for their equality. Yet, they didn't want to be held above people of other races, they wanted to be held to the same standards as others. That is what equality is all about. All civil rights movements attempt to get other people to hold everybody to the same standards. If the same standards are used for everybody, then the only standards that can be used are those that specifically apply. In terms of a job, that means can this person do the job, and do the job well? Do they have the right attitude?

I would imagine that ideally every economy would be based on Meritocracy. Why hire somebody for a job who has no skills? Why not hire somebody for a job who is very qualified but maybe doesn't look the way you expect them to? Meritocracy does not mean that you have to like everybody, or that you have to be friends with everybody, but more that you respect people's individuality and judge them by their skills and abilities as applicable.