My own personal conspiracy theory is that mediocre people with little intelligence but substantial social skills have banded together in a sinister fraternity to undermine meritoriousness in order to prevent them from becoming the wage slaves most of us are. But I have no proof of this.
Then Again...
But fundamentally, we're a society that gets by on being busy and avoiding delays. Most of the problems with idiotic behavior is that it gets defended very vigorously, no more so than by the people who work diligently but unconvincingly to convince us they're not idiots.
What was that question again? I don't think I quite heard it the first time...
Case in point: my boss is the most irresponsible person I have ever met in my entire fucking life. Even the bi-polar coke addict and homeless banjo player friends of mine are more responsible than he is. He's a pathological liar, a very creepy sexual harasser, and a gun nut who does shoddy work. And yet getting rid of this guy has been a Sisiphean task for over 2 years. Mostly because 1) he's there and 2) his boss is just as bad as he is and 3)...profit? I have no clue. But every effort made to get rid of him has only brought down rebuke from corporate and infighting. We've lost good employees and opened ourselves up to lawsuits by keeping him around. But for some reason, his presence serves some kind of purpose I know not what and most of it seems to point to a large-scale prevalence of corruption by selfish, irresponsible people like him. Likely it's because he and the higher-ups are in something deep and nobody can risk upending the apple cart.
Like so many other things, I suspect that the traditional human habit of getting settled combined with the uniquely American Protestant Work Ethic has combined to create that legendary confluence of catastrophe called the unintended consequence. In this case, once we got ourselves established as a nation, we got it in our heads that we had it figured out and wouldn't have to change things. As time went on, we kept making small adjustments to the criteria and curricula, but never approached major renovations because of the sheer investment up front. It's easy to suggest new metal detectors and new computers in schools because the money its an equipment problem with no hidden costs and an immediate effect. Changing how the system works requires so much fucking money that everyone needed to collaborate on it doesn't want to take the risk.
Like this but...more.
And so rather than fixing things to go with the tide, the systems just started dropping features and leaving a husk where a functional body once stood. So that post-War education system that was supposed to produce a new generation of alcoholic lawyers, accountants, doctors, and golf caddies to service them fell victim to the illusion of permanence and as a result, nobody suspected what would happen over time if you merged a competitive job market with a very efficient education system during the biggest economic and population boom in American history.
George asked in between vodka tonics while going over the curriculum proposal.
So when the jobs went overseas, the vocational classes dropped out, leaving elective-only curricula designed for general summary education of a technician class that now had no market. Then the social revolt ruined the organized progress of social reform and created a HUGE drug market and welfare state that ruined the psychological and emotional stability for most of the population. Then the self-esteem movement figured out that beating a child for getting B's was less constructive than fostering positive-reinforcement to encourage investment in education...and then failed to actually give them the autonomy to actually accomplish things worth being positive about. All this kind of comes to a head in the late 80s when college enrollment is so fucking high that colleges have to start dialing up the admission requirements to filter people out so the world didn't run out of literate janitors and started scrutinizing people in kindergarten.
I guess those extracurriculars DO make a difference...
From here, you have helicopter parents, increased bureaucracy, no formal job education, and the replacement of the professional sector with the service industry and voila...you have a nation full of undereducated people who have been taught to do, not to think, and how to utilize the institution to get ahead.
And this. Those are guys, by the way.
Those naturally gifted with scheming, manipulation, and general bullshitting became the underclass version of the upperclass 1% who make a living by exploiting the sincerity of honest people through ruthless ambition and indifference.
Once their population reached critical mass, they and their worldview became the standard by which everyone has to compete and merit became nearly obsolete. The right credentials and connections became more important than the sharpest minds and the emphasis on busywork ensured that nobody could afford to take the time out to make changes. Just like school and work, nobody can slow down the machine. Kinda like how I can't risk losing my job by trying to get rid of my boss. Sure, everyone would benefit in the long-run, but that short-term inconvenience is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO intolerable.
It's like Animal Planet: you don't see piranha eating each other.