[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by jammies

Elite private schools can recruit however they want and I can point out that the public good would be better served by entirely merit-based admissions and not a preference for the daughters and sons of alumni. Once more you entirely miss the point, which is not that private schools can't do what they are doing, but that they shouldn't do it.

In your social justice warrior mindset they shouldn't do it. Meanwhile the rest of the world, including Canadians, flock to the United States to get educated and get a degree from an American school, especially those elite schools. It's because the value of the degree is superior to that which you can get almost anywhere else in the world and they provide access you can't get elsewhere.

Arguing that money and connections are more important than ability and hard work is very on-brand for an American academic.

Anyone who doesn't believe that is an idiot, plain and simple. Money and social standing have always been more important than ability. As long as man has worked together in collectives and established social order those with the means and the connections have always been at the forefront and done everything in their power to retain that social and political standing. The sooner people understand that and learn to play the game by the rules established a long time ago the better equipped they will be to exist in that system, gain positions of influence in that system, and then ultimately change it from the inside out. But here's a dirty little secret for you social justice warriors; Humans are very predictable, especially when it comes to power and influence. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Once people get accepted into the club they readily comply with the rules and adopt the same behaviors and maintain access to their newfound standing, for themselves and their offspring. It is human nature.

Keep telling everyone else how we don't understand the realities of America while the country falls apart around you.

You don't understand the realities of America and you never will until you are part of it. Ask any Canadian who moved to the United States if the country was what they expected? You're going to get a resounding no. The mass media paints a picture of life that doesn't really exist. The country is way more simple and way more complex all at the same time. The nuances and idiosyncrasies are subtle and extreme. The culture, while supposedly homogenous, is extremely rich and varied. The bravado of "U.S.A." is countered by an incredible timidity and uncertainty that is at times unnerving. You believe in the caricature projected by the media, but the country is nothing like that painted picture. You will only understand that once you're in the middle of it and experience it firsthand.

I would also warn you against suggesting Canada is any different or any better. You're on the exact same slippery slope and following us down the same path. You're just like the frog in pot of water on a slow boil, you just aren't feeling it. Canada has always been about 20 years behind the United States in adoption of cultural and political norms. That seems to be accelerating. All the faults you see in the United States exist in Canada, just with a slightly different context.