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One single word: Merit
Democracy is possible only when individual merits are borne in mind. Rather than a faceless group, goal achievers on their own are the ones entitled to have a high profile
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Perseverance, effort, aptitude. A mixture that ensures success anywhere (Photo: Nicola Rocco)
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By María Teresa Mata
 Any citizen had access to such honor, provided that his fitness, perseverance and strive could make him suitable. Only the best ones went to war, which was viewed as the highest recognition. Also, businesspersons, some of them very wealthy, such as Pericles himself, reached outstanding public positions based on their ability. Then, it would be not superfluous to say that the Athenian democracy had merit, regardless of the social or economic status, as one of their leading principles. Today, this is known as "meritocracy." Only those who gain their positions or attain their goals on their own merits are able to play a salient role; they are able to take up such positions and goals in their own right or value them fairly. Awarding these positions in the absence of prior conditions or tying them automatically to a lower level puts such positions, goals or achievements at risk of losing relevance, or even worse, effectiveness. As for any achievements, they may be let down as conquests. The aforementioned text quotes another illustrative paragraph: "We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it." This means that despite fighting for excellence and creating wealth, the purpose of this polis was just fighting against poverty and using their revenues to the benefit of all its citizens. In short, a democratic system is born and made where, based on its original equalitarian spirit -which dates back to more than 2,500 years- recognizes the individual merit as a citizen's primary value, regardless of the people's origin. Hence, rather than the force of a faceless group with no individuality and standardizing the human essence, the development of individual excellence as part of an open "meritocracy," ensures indeed the system social and political sustainability, efficacy and efficiency, far from being doomed to demise. By making a parallelism with the ancient world, it is worth remembering that the very Pericles started to build the Parthenon, a majestic work that has mirrored for thousands of years the superiority of the Athenian values, their government system and their way of living. Not only the three most distinguished men in their field of expertise were retained to design and execute it -Phideas, Callicratus and Ictinuswas- but the fittest ordinary people. "the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty proofs." As we get closer to the 100th anniversary of El Universal, this 99th edition pays tribute both to the individual merit impersonated in our founder, poet and autodidact Andrés Mata, and all those Venezuelans who, as their strive to make the difference as individuals, have served our country. Their heroism and fame -Pericles said- lies on having escaped dishonor and "choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting" and resignedly. |
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