"Justice is the harmonious arrangement of conflicting parts."
Our society likes to set each "part" against the other in order to strengthen every individual part, mistakenly believing that strong parts will make a strong whole. Only problem is, this inevitably leads to disharmony which upsets the very whole itself. Strong parts at war with each other do not make for a strong whole, and the whole is always greater than the sum of it's parts. This is why I believe liberalism is fundamentally unwise. No society lasts when each part is jealous of the other.
A decent society needs wise rulers, courageous warriors, and citizens who understand the importance of moderation.
Our society places a big emphasis on self-indulgence. Plato (and every real doctor) would hate this. Our culture promotes an endless, unsatisfying cycle of desire and gratification that only leads to mental and physical sickness. No wonder the majority of young people are depressed! Our culture is a tyranny of desire. Advertisements program us to want things we don't need and feel inadequate without them. On social media, "keeping up with the Joneses" has become "keeping up with the most rich and famous influencers in the world". American freedom has become a tyranny in the most intimate sense, where each individual is tyrannized by the lowest parts of his or her self.
Endless, dynamic competition has many economic benefits, but it comes at the price of charity, trust and benevolence. Jealous political leaders do not care for their people. Jealous men and women do not make good husbands and wives. People jealous of others will not help their neighbors and a society of jealous people erodes all trust. Competition and meritocracy breeds jealousy, both among the most and least competent citizens. Those at the bottom become jealous of their superiors. Those at the top become jealous of their power and believe themselves to be better than others. There's no sense of unity or cohesion in a liberal society. The only thing that unites us is our shared ambition to get one over on our fellow citizen.
I hope when this game is finished, we're all able to come together and form some sort of order that's just in the highest sense. Trump has been talking more about unity lately and I think that's more relevant than people realize. Harmonious unity (not government-enforced uniformity) is the basis of a just society. I really hope we can return to it in some form.
You mean we need Jesus Christ.
Meritocracy only breeds jealousy in those that are unwilling to better themselves. "Why does he/she have the job I want?" Well, unless it's glaringly obvious that the person with the job I want isn't worthy of that job, there's no way of knowing whether it was earned through merit, or earned by other means. We used to value meritocracy in a way that benefited the people willing to strive for being better. Better at work, better at home, better at maintaining oneself in a positive way.
Anything can, and is being used, to divide us. We, as a society, have allowed it by letting ourselves be distracted with the mundane and useless garbage th "control mechanism" throws at us. If we would only get back to focusing on ourselves and our families more, and in a way that truly benefits us individually, then society itself will follow suit. People have become way too interested in what others are doing, what others have, and what others may or may not be thinking about ourselves.
Who gives a shit what others think about "me" as long as I am striving to be better...by doing better? That's the question everyone needs to ask themselves, while being totally and brutally honest with themselves about their own shortcomings and what they can do themselves to better their situation.
It also breeds a different kind of jealousy for those on top, in the sense of being "fiercely protective of one's rights or possessions."
Our elites truly believe they're better than everyone else and have no responsibility towards the people they rule over. Since "they earned it" their power is all about them, not the people it actually has consequences for. Political leaders used to have a name to defend and a sense of honor and duty to their ancestors and descendants. In an individualist society, this goes out the window 99% of the time.