Saturday, December 03, 2022

Elite Communication

The first disadvantage of an elite education ... is that it makes you incapable of talking to people who aren't exactly like you, for the simple reason that you never meet any of them. Elite schools pride themselves on their "diversity," but that diversity is almost entirely a matter of race. With respect to class, these schools are largely - indeed increasingly - homogeneous. Visit any elite campus in our great nation, and you can thrill to the heartwarming spectacle of the children of white business people and professionals studying and playing alongside the children of black, Asian, and Latino businesspeople and professionals. At the same time, because these schools tend to cultivate liberal attitudes, they leave their students in the paradoxical position of wanting to advocate on behalf of the working class while being unable to hold a simple conversation with anyone in it.

- William Deresiewicz, "The Disdvantages of an Elite Education" [The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society]

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