The reason this sort of thing does not sit well with some people is that this does not work from an ethical standpoint in many fields. What if doctors, lawyers, or engineers all got to skip school because they bought the right person some lunch? Obviously things got so bad in the past that those fields are now heavily regulated. It's not a matter of just being a hard worker. If someone works relationships to get a job and then an airplane crashes it is bad news for everyone. Clearly, when flying at 35,000 feet you want the most skilled person to have designed your plane, not the guy who bought lunch for the right person.
People in the 'serious' professions already have to put up with dishonesty, battle daily with unethical coworkers and organizations, and have to work with someone's crappy family member hire. So to applaud ass kissers who get a job based on connections is very bad for society. If it's just about music or acting or some non-serious field, the no one cares and no one does care.
Even in "serious" professions, it still matters who you know.
Here's an anecdote: a good friend of mine studied and finished medicine in a foreign country (in English). He passed all the American exams, yet no school would take him. The path to becoming an American doctor is quite different and more difficult than if you were to study domestically.
However, he met a doctor from the same country who practices medicine in America. The doctor was able to secure a volunteering position for my friend, and because of that volunteering experience, he is now finishing his residency program in the top 90% of his class.
Long story short: having connections is not about creating shortcuts; it's about creating opportunities that would otherwise be impossible to obtain.
People in the 'serious' professions already have to put up with dishonesty, battle daily with unethical coworkers and organizations, and have to work with someone's crappy family member hire. So to applaud ass kissers who get a job based on connections is very bad for society. If it's just about music or acting or some non-serious field, the no one cares and no one does care.