That's the crux of the disagreement here. You assume that something fair is happening, and others don't. A meritocracy sounds great, but I've yet to see one actually implemented at any scale. Or rather, the skills that get rewarded don't feel like the skills that are actually important to the job (networking and personal skills often times up your earning ability more than your coding abilities).
>>I would rather live in a fair environment where I'm out of a job...
Sure you would, because you believe that you'd be able to find another job. And as long as that thought exists, you can rationalize that management is "fair" and a meritocracy is in place. Some of us think the system is broken and benefits the few at the expense of the many, and that doesn't seem "fair" to us.