Meritocracies, no matter how fair, present a fundamental problem: Where you are in life is, to some degree, under your control. Therefore, whatever you lack in life is somehow “your fault.”
This responsibility comes with a great deal of pain. The pain of this is particularly sharp today, when nearly everyone has unrealistic expectations of perfection and greatness.
Social status, more than money, is the driving carrot of contemporary capitalism. As social inequality increases, so does social status anxiety.
Read more at https://spreadgreatideas.org/glossary/status-anxiety/
#anxiety #pain #socialstatus #money #capitalism #spreadgreatideas