The society of incompetents: Contemporary dystopian literature and the relationship between the principle of equality and meritocracy

The spectre of equality represents a threat to the free spontaneity of the individual and is often used as an element to depict aberrations in which citizens of imaginary civilisations are controlled by totalitarian powers. Apart from the great figures of dystopian literature, mention may be made of Rand’s novel Anthem or Hartley’s Facial Justice. In both dystopian novels, the principle of equality is the means used to reduce the value of individuality and annihilate human nature. However, as affirmed by many constitutional charters of contemporary democracies – like the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union –, the principle of equality is a useful instrument to avoid discrimination based on gender, race, religion, etc. This indicates the existence of an undeniable tension concerning the role and functions of the principle of equality. One of them is what John Gray identifies as the opposition between equality and meritocracy concepts. This seemingly irreducible contrast is the central subject of two modern dystopian novels: Marinoff’s Fair New World and Grant’s Incompetence. The latter narrates the events of a cynical detective in search of a murderer who will take him on a journey far and wide within an imaginary Europe, the United States of Europe, where the incompetence of people and institutions reigns supreme. In this case, equality does not transform the institutional structure of European states by making them authoritarian but creeps into democracy itself by making it dysfunctional. The innovation of these novels lies in the emphasis on a new dimension of the fear of egalitarian danger. This is no longer evident in the contrast between democracies and totalitarianism but is hidden in the plots of the democracies themselves.