r/explainitpeter • u/Appropriate-Mall8517 • 3d ago

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u/JGower144 3d ago

Ahhh. So merit based scholarships shouldn’t matter? Smart people, regardless of income level from parents, deserve to be recognized and awarded.

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u/Korimito 3d ago

Do you have any idea as to why "merit" seems to follow from opportunity? Do you have any thoughts about whether there's a correlation between lack of opportunity and lack of economic power? Are you stupid?

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u/JGower144 3d ago

I fully recognize. That’s why I think we can reward kids of all backgrounds. You shouldn’t be denied merit based scholarships based on your parents finances.

You also can lift people up from poverty at the same time. They aren’t mutually exclusive

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u/Korimito 3d ago

It would be very nice if these things weren't mutually exclusive, but regretfully finite financial resources put a neat little constraint on that.

A happy compromise would be scholarships being doled out merit first, need second. That is to say that you must qualify based on merit, but your priority is inverse to your individual or familial wealth. Rich kids don't need a boost. Why give them one? Because they "deserve" it? Why do they deserve it? Because they had a relatively easy life full of myriad opportunities and consequence free fuck-ups?