The tyranny of merit | Michael Sandel

Translator: Hanningtone Omollo Reviewer: Nelson Simfukwe

Here's a question we should all be asking:

Kuna swali tunafaa kujiuliza:

What went wrong?

Kipi hakikwenda sawa?

Not just with the pandemic

Si tu kuhusiana na janga

but with our civic life.

lakini na uraia wetu.

What brought us to this polarized, rancorous political moment?

Nini kilichotuletea huu mgawano na chuki kisiasa ?

In recent decades,

Kwa miongo ya karibu,

the divide between winners and losers has been deepening,

utengano baina ya washindi na walioshindwa umezidi,

poisoning our politics,

na kutia sumu siasa yetu,

setting us apart.

kututenganisha.

This divide is partly about inequality.

Mgawanyiko huu unahusu udhalimu kwa kiasi fulani.

But it's also about the attitudes toward winning and losing

Lakini pia mtazamo kuhusu kushinda na kushindwa

that have come with it.

ambayo huja nayo.

Those who landed on top

Walio kileleni

came to believe that their success was their own doing,

wanaamini ufanisi wao ni juhudi yao,

a measure of their merit,

kipimo cha ustahili wao,

and that those who lost out had no one to blame but themselves.

na walioanguka hawana wa kulaumu bali nafsi zao.

This way of thinking about success

Mtazamo huu wa mafanikio

arises from a seemingly attractive principle.

unatokana na kanuni inayovutia,

If everyone has an equal chance,

kwamba kila mtu ana nafasi sawa,

the winners deserve their winnings.

na washindi wanstahili ushindi wao.

This is the heart of the meritocratic ideal.

Huu ndio kiini cha wazo la ustahi.

In practice, of course, we fall far short.

Kwa vitendo,bila shaka, tuna upungufu.

Not everybody has an equal chance to rise.

Si kila mtu ana nafasi sawa kuinuka.

Children born to poor families tend to stay poor when they grow up.

Watoto wazaliwao kwa jamii maskini hukua kwa umaskini,

Affluent parents are able to pass their advantages onto their kids.

Wazazi tajiri wana uwezo kupitisha manufaa kwa wototo wao.

At Ivy League universities, for example,

Kwa mfano, katika vyuo bora zaidi,

there are more students from the top one percent

idadi wengi wametoka familia tajiri sana

than from the entire bottom half of the country combined.

kushinda nusu ya chini ya nchi ukijumuishwa.

But the problem isn't only that we fail to live up

Shida sio tu kushindwa kufikia

to the meritocratic principles we proclaim.

mawazo ya ustahi tunavyopiga mbiu.

The ideal itself is flawed.

Wazo lenyewe lina kasoro.

It has a dark side.

Ina dosari.

Meritocracy is corrosive of the common good.

Ustahi una madhara kwa manufaa kwa watu wote.

It leads to hubris among the winners

unaleta kiburi kwa washindi

and humiliation among those who lose out.

na kufedhehesha waliopeteza.

It encourages the successful to inhale too deeply of their success,

huchochea washindi kujiona bora zaidi

to forget the luck and good fortune that helped them on their way.

na kusahau nasibu na uenyemali iliyowasaidia kupata mafanikio.

And it leads them to look down on those less fortunate,

Na kupelekea kuonea wasiobahatika,

less credentialed than themselves.

na wasio na wasifi kama wao.

This matters for politics.

Huu hujalisha kisiasa.

One of the most potent sources of the populous backlash

Mojawapo ya chanzo kuu cha upinzani maarufu

is the sense among many working people that elites look down on them.

miongoni mwa wafanyikazi ni dhana ya wasomi kuwadharau.

It's a legitimate complaint.

Ni lawama halali.

Even as globalization brought deepening inequality

Ingawaje utandawazi umezidi kukosesha usawa

and stagnant wages,

na mshahara usioongezeka,

its proponents offered workers some bracing advice.

watetezi wake walishauri wafanyikazi.

"If you want to compete and win in the global economy,

"Kama unataka kushindana na kushinada karika uchumi wa kimataifa,

go to college."

enda chuo"

"What you earn depends on what you learn."

"Mapato yako yanalingana na masomo yako"

"You can make it if you try."

"Utafaulu ukijaribu"

These elites miss the insult implicit in this advice.

Hawa wasomi hawazingatii tusi fiche kwenye huu ushauri.

If you don't go to college,

Usipoenda chuo,

if you don't flourish in the new economy,

usiponawiri kwenye huu uchumi mpya,

your failure is your fault.

basi shida ni lako.

That's the implication.

Huo ndio sababu.

It's no wonder many working people turned against meritocratic elites.

Si ajabu wafanyikzi wengi waligeukia ustahi wa wasomi.

So what should we do?

Tunafaa tufanye nini ?

We need to rethink three aspects of our civic life.

Tunafaa kuwazia kipengee tatu cha uraia wetu.

The role of college,

Nafasi ya chuo,

the dignity of work

usharifu wa kazi

and the meaning of success.

na maana ya ufanisi.

We should begin by rethinking the role of universities

Tunafaa kuwazia tena nafasi ya vyuo

as arbiters of opportunity.

kama suluhishi la fursa.

For those of us who spend our days in the company of the credentialed,

Kwa watu kama sisi tunaotangamana na wasomi,

it's easy to forget a simple fact:

ni rahisi kusahau hakika sahili:

Most people don't have a four-year college degree.

Watu wengi hawana sahada la miaka minee chuoni.

In fact, nearly two-thirds of Americans don't.

Kwa hakika, thuluthi mbili Wamerikani hawana.

So it is folly to create an economy

Kwa hivyo ni upumbavu kujenga uchumi

that makes a university diploma a necessary condition

inayoshurutisha shahada ya chuo

of dignified work and a decent life.

ili kuwepo na maisha sharifu.

Encouraging people to go to college is a good thing.

Kuhimiza watu kwenda chuo ni wazo mzuri.

Broadening access for those who can't afford it

Upanuzi wa ufikavu kwa wasiojiweza

is even better.

ni bora zaidi

But this is not a solution to inequality.

Lakini huu si suluhu la kutokuwa na usawe.

We should focus less on arming people for meritocratic combat,

Haina faida kuandaa watu kupambania ustahi

and focus more on making life better

ni kuboresha maisha tunafaa kuzingatia

for people who lack a diploma

kwa watu hawana diploma

but who make essential contributions to our society.

lakini wenye mchango muhimu katika jamii.

We should renew the dignity of work

Tunafaa kufufua usharifu wa kazi.

and place it at the center of our politics.

na kuiweka kati kwenye siasa zetu

We should remember that work is not only about making a living,

Tunafaa kukumbuaka kazi sio tu kupata riziki,

it's also about contributing to the common good

ila pia ni kuchangia uzuri wa pamoja

and winning recognition for doing so.

na kushindania utambuzi wakati huo

Robert F. Kennedy put it well half a century ago.

Robert F. Kennedy alisema vyema nusu karne iliyopita

Fellowship, community, shared patriotism.

Ushirika,jumuiya, uzalendo shirika

These essential values do not come

Malengo haya hayaji

from just buying and consuming goods together.

kwa ununuzi na ulaji wa bidhaa pamoja.

They come from dignified employment,

Zinatokana na ajira adhama,

at decent pay.

kwa mshahara lifaalo.

The kind of employment that enables us to say,

Ni aina ya ajira inatuwezesha kusema,

"I helped to build this country.

"Nilichangia ujuenzi wa huu nchi.

I am a participant in its great public ventures."

Mimi ni mshiriki wa ubia umma zake kubwa"

This civic sentiment

Huu hisia wa uraia

is largely missing from our public life today.

Haipo pakubwa katika maisha ya umma siku hizi

We often assume that the money people make

Mara mingi tunadhania kipato cha watu

is the measure of their contribution to the common good.

ni kipimo cha mchango wao kwa mazuri kwa wote

But this is a mistake.

Huu ni kosa.

Martin Luther King Jr. explained why.

Martin Luther King Jr alielezea mbona.

Reflecting on a strike by sanitation workers

Kwa kutafakari mgomo wa wasafishaji mazingira

in Memphis, Tennessee,

uko Memphis, Tennessee,

shortly before he was assassinated,

muda mfupi kabla hajawawa,

King said,

King alisema,

"The person who picks up our garbage is, in the final analysis,

"Mtu anyezoa takataka, kwa uchambuzi wa kina,

as significant as the physician,

ana umuhimu sawa na daktari,

for if he doesn't do his job,

asipofanya kazi yake,

diseases are rampant.

magonjwa yanakithiri.

All labor has dignity."

Kazi zote zina usharifu"

Today's pandemic makes this clear.

Janga tunao leo unadhihirisha huu.

It reveals how deeply we rely

Unaonyesha tunavyotegemea sana

on workers we often overlook.

wafanykazi kunapuuza wakati mwingi.

Delivery workers,

Wafanyikazi wa upelekaji,

maintenance workers,

wafanyikazi wa matengenezo,

grocery store clerks,

karani wa duka,

warehouse workers,

wafanyikazi wa bohari,

truckers,

madereva wa lori,

nurse assistants,

wauguzi wasaidizi,

childcare workers,

watunza watoto,

home health care providers.

wahuduma wa afya nyumbani.

These are not the best-paid or most honored workers.

Wafanyikazi hawa kipato ni duni na wanapuuziliwa.

But now, we see them as essential workers.

Lakini sasa, tunawaona muhimu.

This is a moment for a public debate

Huu ni fursa wa mjadala wa umma

about how to bring their pay and recognition

kuhusu kuinua mapato yao na kuwatambua

into better alignment with the importance of their work.

kulingana na umuhimu wa kazi wanayofanya.

It is also time for a moral, even spiritual, turning,

Ni wakati wa kubadili maadili, hata roho,

questioning our meritocratic hubris.

kuulizia kiburi cha ustahi.

Do I morally deserve the talents that enable me to flourish?

Kimaadili,nastahiki talanta zinazoniwezesha kunawiri ?

Is it my doing

Ni uwezo wangu

that I live in a society that prizes the talents

kua naishi katika jamii inayothamini talanta

I happen to have?

ninazo ?

Or is that my good luck?

Ama ni bahati ?

Insisting that my success is my due

Kusisitiza ufanisi ni haki yangu

makes it hard to see myself in other people's shoes.

huleta ugumu kujiweka kwa niaba ya watu wengine.

Appreciating the role of luck in life

Kuthamini nafasi ya baraka maishani

can prompt a certain humility.

yanaweza leta unyenyekevu flani.

There but for the accident of birth, or the grace of God,

Kama si kwa ajali ya uzazi, ama neema ya mungu

or the mystery of fate,

ama fimbo la hatima,

go I.

ningekua nani.

This spirit of humility

Huu moyo wa unyenyekevu

is the civic virtue we need now.

ndio fadhila ya uraia tunahitaji sasa.

It's the beginning of a way back

Ndio mwanzo wa kurudi

from the harsh ethic of success that drives us apart.

toka maadili makali ya ufanisi unaotutenganisha.

It points us beyond the tyranny of merit

Inatuelekeza kupita ubabe wa ustahi

to a less rancorous, more generous public life.

hadi maisha ya ukarimu zaidi ya umma