Subject: Re: Shameful Policy
'Wow. Absolutely wrong. Merit is the ability to skillfully, competently and reliably complete the duties at hand, be they sinking a lay up in the NBA, performing surgery on a heart or brain, or piloting a jet aircraft. Merit cares not how you got your skills, or the obstacles you faced obtaining them.'

Merit absolutely cares about how you got your skills. In order or an outcome to be meritorious it has to be earned, and if the outcome is a function of some unearned advantage then it is not meritorious. It is privilege.