Don’t get me wrong, I understand the reasoning behind it and the national impetus to push for it following Garfield’s assassination (although just because a job-seeking lone nutter did a heinous act shouldn’t have been the main motivating factor). What I’m not sure is how many could’ve envisioned that replacing patronage with what turned out to be armies of government bureaucrats whom are almost impossible to terminate.
Hell I probably would have been for it at the time. Meritocracy sounds good. But it turned out to be a frying pan into fire situation.
With human nature being what it is I don’t know if a meritocracy is even possible.