Meritocratic hierarchies have both killed the golden goose of discretion in elites' self-preservation, and failed to bring off a revolution in governance and representation of minorities in bringing this country toward its potential. This diversification has made factions ever more keen to undercut others with competing interests, rather than focus on a long-term progress, and have focused on short-term, spectacular projects at the cost of more sensible programs that take time and look beyond immediate political capital as the measure of the essence of the public good. This is both a sad and inevitable progression which has simply failed in its promise, regardless of how well-represented minorities and well-educated folks stream to D.C. in every election cycle to "change the world" in their own often half-formed mold. Nobody advocates for a return to governance by WASPs, but neither does the current product of decades of Affirmative Action programs represent the epitome of what Americans are capable of bringing off in governance, public policy and effective strategic vision, planning and legislation. Alas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/opinion/19brooks.html?em