Mostly because the kind of people who run and advocate for programs like this are actively hostile to the idea of merit. Prioritizing talented people would be antithetical to them.

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mikkupikku 13 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Prioritizing merit would be fine if there was some way to measure merit empirically, and if that measure couldn't be gamed by anybody with money and/or connections. But this is for artists, so...

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anigbrowl 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I bet you also think government shouldn't be picking winners and losers.

	▲	pessimizer 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And thinks that s/he's a winner and the stuff s/he enjoys is made by winners, and the stuff s/he doesn't like is made by losers. Merit, universal, objective = ME; Worthless, narcissistic, special interest = YOU.