Humans are broadly similar to each other, and minor athletic differences usually do not matter to job performance, so do we really want to structure our society around such trivialities?
Experience and/or accomplishments for the vast majority of jobs.
Under what circumstances do you believe it is not possible to select among candidates based on merit?
* Blood type
* Immune system mismatch
* Organ size
* Distance donated organ must travel
* Urgency of donation
The closest we come to considering life experience is in two time-related criteria: Children and adults are different (relates to organ size), and time spent on waitlists is taken into account (relates to urgency).
Certainly, a merit-based organ transplant system is possible. In China, there are reports of (involuntary) organ harvesting from political and religious undesirables [2]; these people have been deemed meritless. China continues to work to deploy a single system for measuring merit, the Social Credit System [1].
For hiring and jobs, we might imagine hiring people based on skill sets and job duties; we would consider people based on their ability to carry out the tasks required of the position. Just like with organ transplants, this is a pragmatic approach, rather than one based on celebrity or subtlety.
[0] https://unos.org/transplant/frequently-asked-questions/
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Go...
Better people become judges, not buddies.
Meritocracy doesn’t mean “winners take all”. It means the best person for the job gets the job.
If the best people for the job have the job, especially in gov by definition justice will prevail because people who know how to address injustice will have the job.