Monday, July 21, 2008

Had a comment on the 'Elite education'

post, and thought I'd say something here that I may not have gotten across.

I don't have problem one with someone getting a fine education. Period. For that matter, whether you had to work multiple jobs or your family had enough to write a check, neither is a problem for me. Hell, I WANT people to succeed, and if they've done well enough to just write a tuition/books/dorm check, good for them; if you worked your ass off to get through school and came out with a degree in engineering(to use the commenters' specific field), you did well. In either case, you're supposed to be proud of earning a good education.

The problem is not what school you went to or your having done well: the problem is the attitude so many people who go to 'elite' schools have, whether they have it going in or get it in school, that anyone who didn't go to one of THOSE schools is an unlettered cretin who should be ignored if at all possible; after all, what could their thoughts or beliefs be worth?

Ever watch Frazier? Perfect example of the actual attitude of a lot of these people: you didn't go to Harvard, or at least Yale, you don't really count as having been educated, etc. One episode the station had been bought by a guy who'd dropped out of high school(in Texas, yet), started working as a gofer at a radio station and worked his way up. He was now worth billions, owned a bunch of radio and tv stations and- as the producer threw in- had the worlds biggest collection of sixguns. Frazier's main comment: "I'm working for Yosemite Sam!" Didn't seem to occur to him that someone who'd never gotten near the hallowed doors of Harvard was now his boss, and in money and authority had far outstripped him, through hard work over years; all that mattered was this unlettered yokel had some say over him, and that was just insufferable. THAT is the kind of attitude I'm speaking of, and disgusted by.

Guy, your daughter SHOULD be proud of her success in school; from the sound of it she's worked for it and earned it. That is not, and should not be, a problem.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yup.

I have had the opportunity to learn from some brilliant technicians, guys with only high-school educations, but they had been doing the job since I was a pup. Awesome experience.

However, my current supervisor doesn't understand a thing about what we do, and resents that fact that I do.

I need to find a job like that first one again.

Regards,
NMM1AFan

Last Chance Safari Company said...

not looking for a war of semantics, agree with you completely about the prevailing attitude regarding "where" I went to school instead of "what I learned" in school. oh yes there is a ton of that dung that put a tarnish on the other sterling examples of why a good education is worth its cost.

Last Chance Safari Company said...

And the final reason why she's such a wonderful example of the things we cherish most..... she bought me a Kimber stainless target in 45acp last year for fathers day!!

Firehand said...

Damn! You definitely raised her right!