I had always known the term nepotism was derived from the Latin word NEPOS, which means nephew. However, it wasn’t until recently that I learned how it all came about. Reading through the Britannica Encyclopedia, it was recorded that around the 14th or 15th century, the term was created to describe a common practice by Catholic popes who had a habit of appointing close relatives to very important positions.
This history made me wonder how different this is from wealthy people passing down their unfair privileges to their offspring and other members of their families. There is really no difference, and the fact that nepotism was indeed a church culture in the past, is proof that it had been deeply ingrained in our society long before now.
One might ask, how else does nepotism play out in real life? I’ll give some instances.
One would be in education.
A lot of less privileged students crush gravels to get into top Ivy League schools because they understand the benefits that come with being an alumnus. They work hard academically and do everything else it takes to become scholars there. But in every admission cycle, you would also find some intelligent rich kid who gets admitted without breaking half the sweat to meet all the requirements. Their admission displaces a bunch of other deserving students. That is nepotism.
Another example would be in business.
Let’s say a top company is hiring a qualified project manager who will oversee projects from initiation to completion, with handsome quarterly bonuses. Definitely, a lot of people would send in their applications and, among them, there would be applicants who do not only meet the requirements, butrely on that alone to get the job. You would also see another applicant who doesn’t but has a parent who has built a strong relationship with the hiring manager over the years. While both CVs and portfolios will be reviewed, it is likely that an offer letter would be given to person B, with an option of learning on the job.
Now, would it be wrong for people to keep using these unfair privileges to their own advantage? Absolutely. It is wrong because it creates room for unfairness in different sectors and also gives priority to family members of personnels heading public opportunities.
It is a direct insult to meritocracy. It makes people question whether their hard work is worth any wheat, while others end up giving up on pursuing big opportunities, especially when they’ve been affected by nepotism in the past. Even when such people find their way into certain organizations, they end up being victims of unfair treatment, biased judgment, and exclusion from certain benefits that ought to be given to the best in the room.
In all these, it remains a little shocking that there are a lot of people who see no problem with nepotism. But the reason is simple. They are all beneficiaries of it, and truthfully, it’s almost impossible to see people with an unfair advantage feel bad about this position, even when they know they’re the reason someone else lost a big opportunity. It becomes more interesting to realize that even those who are not beneficiaries of nepotism still support it. The reason is also simple: they all aspire to the point where they get to enjoy such an advantage and even pass it on to their children.
All of these reflect a deeper issue in our society; how much we prioritize wealth and connections to power over every other meaningful thing. It’s really saddening.
However, I believe that criminalizing nepotism isn’t the solution, and neither is it practical in government or private entities.
So, the best approach would be to advocate for every sector to stick to a standard hiring process and give equal opportunity to every deserving applicant. More companies can take a leap by excluding family members of staff from benefiting from fully funded scholarships, grants, and charitable initiatives. Some international oil companies already do this, and it has been truly helpful in discouraging nepotism.
More importantly, we should all encourage opportunities to be awarded based on merit, and if we are ever in positions of power, we can endeavour to treat everyone fairly, regardless of their connections to us.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG!🤗