What was the type of society someone on the show described Vault 33 as? I can’t remember the word but it essentially meant that hard work and doing good deeds was kind of the currency . Maybe some sort of ___-ocracy

[u/cocainebear95]

[u/GTOdriver04]

Meritocracy

This is exemplified by the performance evaluations that the Council references with Norm.

We learn later that it’s a meritocracy* where we see a bit of a thumb on the scale thanks to Bud Askins.

By the way, my God the actor played such a weasel so well. Great performance by him. I could easily imagine millions of guys like Butt Asskiss existing in real life.

[u/Ellisstein → u/GTOdriver04]

You just made me realize that his name may have been intentionally written to be close to Butt Asskiss, and if not, then what a wonderful coincidence. Thank you for that lol

[u/beeatenbyagrue → u/Ellisstein]

I always felt this with Sith Lord too close to Shit Lord.

[u/Otherwise_Branch_771 → u/beeatenbyagrue]

Haha mind blown

[u/Delta_Hammer → u/GTOdriver04]

It's such a vault-tec concept. What if we have a whole society of ass-kissing dipshits? How will they pick a leader? Whose ass will rise to the top?

[u/Schmilettante → u/Delta_Hammer]

Oh fuck that's their vault's experiment

[u/SpacemanBurt → u/Delta_Hammer]

Except the asskissers don’t rise to the top, 31 always does.

[u/Meowmixer21 → u/SpacemanBurt]

Actually, cream rises to the top, and I'm full of cream!

[u/Korps_de_Krieg → u/Meowmixer21]

I'm talking about all the way to the top, yeah. Unjustifiably in an position that I'd rather not be in. But the cream will rise to the top, ooh yeah. Macho Madness, yeah, has got more to offer than Overseer Hank McLean thinks that I got, yeah, and let me tell you something right now, cards stacked against the Macho Man Randy Savage in Vaultemania III, let me say it, yeah, let me say it out loud, and let me point to the President of Vault-Tec, the Macho Man Randy Savage is not happy with your decision, yeah. I am the cream of Project Safehouse and there is no doubt about it, yeah, you Mean Betty Pearson you know that I'm the cream of the crop!

[u/Delta_Hammer → u/Korps_de_Krieg]

Dude that's brilliant! A wrestling-themed vault!

[u/Korps_de_Krieg → u/Delta_Hammer]

Vault 619: All conflict resolution is dictated inside the Squared Circle, with long term observation on the impacts of maintaining an alternate personal on the ego and personality of the person maintaining it.

All contact with Overseer lost after a "Fatal 3 Way" election was proposed, the ensuing after match brawl resulting in the deaths of the majority of personnel on site. Systems were shut down remotely following the "Dead Man Walking" protocol of 1998, rewritten and adapted in 2076 shortly before the war.

[u/bigheadzach → u/Korps_de_Krieg]

looks around for /u/ShittyMorph

[u/bigheadzach → u/Delta_Hammer]

I feel like there is a canon vault that did have resolution-by-combat as their experiment.

[u/Delta_Hammer → u/bigheadzach]

The Boomers in New Vegas came from a vault with a very pro-gun culture iirc. One of their kids did a whole presentation on it.

[u/dominus_simia → u/SpacemanBurt]

The true secret of "breaking into" middle management.

[u/ItsyBitsySPYderman]

Meritocracy

[u/OshaViolated]

Meritocracy iirc

[u/djlyh96]

its not a meritocracy definitionally, overseers dont earn their position, but they called it one because it sounds better to them.

[u/aberrantenjoyer]

Meritocratic Republic I’d say, between the three vaults

[u/headcanonball]

Meritocracy, but it isn't. It is a democracy. They elect their overseer as we've seen in the show.

[u/GrandAffect → u/headcanonball]

That wasn't an election and that isn't a democracy. It's a single hidden leader, beholden to some other hidden leadership, that has "perfectly" bred and planned a master race. But hey, hold an "election" and call yourself whatever.

[u/Jam_B0ne → u/GrandAffect]

If anything its even more of a Meritocracy because the Overseer's, being a part of Bud's Buds, proved their merit pre-war

[u/Peking-Cuck → u/Jam_B0ne]

I think the show is going to explore whether they actually did "prove their merit" or if they were just good at kissing ass and climbing the corporate ladder.

[u/headcanonball → u/GrandAffect]

Ok sure, but that's definitely not a meritocracy.

[u/Giacamo22 → u/headcanonball]

Aristocracies have always fashioned themselves as meritocracies. They deserve to rule, because they are inherently better. They have divine purpose. They have “lives.”

[u/Wayward85 → u/GrandAffect]

Exactly, it appeared democratic k. The surface when really all vault 33 overseers come from 31. People specifically chosen for their ability to manage (read: control) the populace. Since the vault was never opened for 33 for anyone other than Gucey’s mom and Gucey, they should all have non-irradiated pure pre-war DNA for species propagation.

[u/Peking-Cuck → u/GrandAffect]

Yeah didn't Betty win with like 90% of the vote? I'm sure she got a lot of genuine votes, we even see one of the other candidates vote for her. But I suspect the elections are more than a little rigged to make sure someone from 31 always wins.

[u/EA-Corrupt → u/headcanonball]

How did you watch the show and come to that conclusion? Norman’s entire plot is showing that it’s anything but a democracy. Lmao

[u/Impossible_Advance46 → u/EA-Corrupt]

OP asked what the people in the vault described it as, which is a democratic meritocracy. That they are either ignorant (Most of the vault dwellers), complicit (vault 31) or silenced (Norm) with regard to this being all a lie, while true, is not relevant to the answer.