The Effects of Nepotism

In one way or another, a lot of people have been victims of nepotism at some point in their lives. At times, it can happen without us even realizing it at all. Things may look like they were fair for everyone on the outside but underneath the surface, there may have been nepotism at play. How does this affect the other people who can not rely on those family ties to bring them up in this competitive and capitalist society?

Nepotism and Fairness

One of the first things that come to mind when we mention nepotism is fairness. You can’t really put it any other way other than to say that it’s simply not fair to those who actually worked hard to get that position. It’s not easy to study hard, prepare for something, or work hard to get to a place and then another person just grabs it purely because their parent is the CEO, for example.

There’s no way you can put it where nepotism is anything other than a sad result of capitalism and greed. When someone is appointing their kid, nephew, or close friend simply based on that, then the whole system needs a do-over. There seem to be no consequences for pretty much most people who are doing this all the time. In most countries, private companies are not regulated by law when it comes to nepotism although it’s widely frowned upon as a practice.

How many times have we seen stories of prestigious schools where rich kids who barely worked to get there fill positions where they don’t belong? It’s a constant thing that needs addressing. Playing favorites when it comes to people’s education is not good. You have to remember that for every nepotism kid out there, there’s another kid who worked hard for that very thing they’re being denied. The effects of nepotism are felt as thoroughly as a butterfly effect. It trickles down to people who now don’t get to experience their favorite college, workplace, or sports event, simply because the other person had a family member on the board.

Solutions to Nepotism

Policies that take a stance against nepotism are very much needed everywhere where there’s a possibility of it happening. HR needs to be involved constantly in the selection of employees without any biased leanings. Only by treating all the students, employees, sports players, etc. as equals can we move past this unwanted circumstance the world is caught on.

Every close relationship between a hiring person and the person being hired needs to be addressed as soon as possible. That way everybody can be upfront about what’s really going on within the system and perhaps get ahead of anything nepotism-related.

Nepotism has become such a casual thing that barely anybody pays it any mind anymore. It simply does not move people at all when they read about this in the news, even in places that are supposed to be held to a higher standard. Whether in private or public workplaces, this keeps happening and there needs to be more done about it. It affects everybody and it’s wanted by nobody, well, except those who benefit from it. Those who don’t have to actually work to get ahead in life are those with power and unfortunately, more often than not, they’re the ones who decide how things play out. Hence, nepotism is not only a thing that happens a lot, but it’s now even expected to happen.

By changing the mindset of people so that not everyone becomes numb to it, that way perhaps we can do more about this issue. Also, actual laws that prevent nepotism might be a big help as well.

Photo: Elnur/Shutterstock

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