Hej Sam
To add to the answer that Miriam has supplied, I would like to suggest that if that sentence puzzled you, then you may be interested to read /The Rise of the Meritocracy/ (1958) by Michael Young, which is the work that introduced the word "meritocracy" to the English language. It's quite short and well worthwhile.
thanks for your hint! I had found that link already but I have not read it yet. Angela -- Angela Fuß Rothenstein 5a 24214 Neudorf-Bornstein mail: angela.fuss@das-netzwerkteam.de fon: +49 (4346) 6059053 mobil: +49 (1577) 4197937