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Status is a zero sum game in every hierarchy. But if you have a lot of different hierachies, that problem is softened.
There are many ways to play, many ways to win.
As globalization, consolidation and BIG everything swallow up the world, hierarchies consolidate too.
There are many ways to play, many ways to win.
As globalization, consolidation and BIG everything swallow up the world, hierarchies consolidate too.
You can’t be the best baker in your town if Walmart is the place where everything from bread to shoes to chewing gum comes from.
You’re never the smartest, most beautiful, most interesting person around, because you’re competing with a global ranking.
You’re never the smartest, most beautiful, most interesting person around, because you’re competing with a global ranking.
Only a handful of ultra-competitive, and/or highly cognitively demanding hierarchies remain. They all have a script, and you need to be the kind of person who not only has what it takes to make it, but is also good at sticking to scripts.
A rarefied elite.
A rarefied elite.
Posting this not to highlight the cultural difference, which just means China is a bit behind. But outside of “teacher” which kids probably pick because it’s top of mind, the rest all are professions of scale & fame, of making it big.
These are the most visible pinnacles of meritocracy for kids. The top contender is literally filtered through an algorithm.
All the status trickles upward with global consolidation, while the drudgery at the bottom becomes more soulless by the day.
All the status trickles upward with global consolidation, while the drudgery at the bottom becomes more soulless by the day.
