What Liberals Get Wrong About Work

Source: Michael Sandel
Affiliation: The Atlantic

In this article, Sandel argues that the American meritocratic mythos, lack of legal protections or recognition for manual laborers, and stagnated wages have resulted in a majority of Americans feeling unappreciated, stripped of their dignity, and struggling to make ends meet. The Left, Sandel argues, has abandoned this working class by espousing meritocratic values, such as "giving everyone equal opportunity to rise." He advocates instead for an ethic of "contributive justice," wherein manual and unskilled laborers are socially valued, and given a living wage, for the contribution they make to our society in their current role, rather than pushing them to "climb the social ladder." 

Keywords: Community , Government , Hierarchies of Work , Politics