[BobbyJo]

It's not about punishing the foolish, it's about maximizing the utilization of societies resources. If you hand ten million dollars to a fool and he squanders it, he's not the only one that loses.

The best reason for a meritocracy isn't fairness or justice, it's the benefits it creates for everyone. When someone smart is given control over resources, they create more resources, for themselves and others.

[sokoloff]

When that someone smart creates more resources, isn't is likely that they're in a better than average position to plan for its distribution, specifically including placing those resources under the control of smart people to utilize them?

I trust the creator of wealth (small, medium, or great) to allocate it intelligently far more than I trust a bureaucracy to do so.

[BobbyJo]

Hence the need for a meritocracy.