Days Of Whine And Roses
Great post by Megan McArdle in The Atlantic on people who congratulate themselves for the sort of jobs they took -- for giving up Big Law or a highly paid spot at McKinsey for public sector or other lower-paid work:
You know how much credit I deserve for giving up highly paid professional work in order to spend my days boring the hell out of you all with my breezy explanations of present value calculations? None. Am I performing a public service? I hope so. I take my profession seriously, and like to think that I am adding something to the public understanding. But that was my choice. I knew what I was giving up when I made it, and I also knew what I was getting. Which is to say, a job that I absolutely love more than anything I've ever done, a chance to speak to interesting people and see amazing things all the time.Getting to do those things involved a tradeoff. I don't get to spend my vacations at charming Provencal cottages or swank Caribbean resorts. I don't get to buy the $1.1 million dollar mansion in LeDroit Park that I daydream about. (Hey, the owner could be my long-lost great uncle . . . ) I have to watch the food budget, and I can't buy the designer clothes I'd really like to wear.
I took the job because I think this is a great tradeoff. My classmates who went to banks and consultancies mortgaged their late twenties and early thirties doing work I would have found much less rewarding; they are enjoying the payoff now--at least the ones who didn't simply lose everything when Lehman and Bear went down. I don't want to say they "deserve" it, because almost anyone in that sort of position has had an enormous amount of luck along with their hard work, starting with being born to the right family. But I don't begrudge it to them. I think I got the better end of the deal.
And so do the folks who took jobs in government or academia or the non-profit sector. Maybe a few of them really "made a sacrifice" for some obscure reason involving widowed mothers and villanous landlords with a penchant for late-night visits to the railroad tracks, but most of them took the job because they thought they'd like it better. The kind of people who are actually willing to make the sacrifice of doing something they hate in the name of the greater good tend to join monestaries or the army, not the Political Science department at Penn State.
At the end, she also rightly takes to task those who call attendees of Ivy League schools the best and the brightest. Wendy McElroy, who was on the streets in her teens and never went to any college at all, is one of the best and the brightest. Attendees of Ivy League schools are among the richest and most privileged and some are smart, too, but let's not use that as a vetting too for who is and isn't intellectually worthwhile.
Terrific piece by McElroy here on the non-traditional path to becoming educated, along with a guide to etiquette in intellectual encounters. In a way, I've taken a non-traditional path to being educated, too. I went to college, but I studied film and liberal arts. After college, I educated myself in a serious way in psychology and evolutionary psychology and related subjects, and continue to do so every day.
Attendees of Ivy League schools are among the richest and most privileged and some are smart, too, but let's not use that as a vetting too for who is and isn't intellectually worthwhile.
Friends of mine went to Yale and acquaintances of mine went to Harvard.
My observation was that the Yale folk were enthused by Macroeconomics, Constitutional Law, or whatever - while the Harvard folk were enthused about being Harvard folk.
One guy said he chose Yale because when he visited Harvard all they talked about is how hard it is to get admitted.
Engineer at September 6, 2010 4:45 AM
Well I haven't known specifically anyone who went to Harvard or Yale.
But I've met up with numerous people who've attended Annapolis, West Point or the AF Academy. You could tell the good officers from the bad ones easily. The good ones -- you found out they had attended by accident. The bad ones were still wearing their class rings five plus years after graduation.
Jim P. at September 6, 2010 6:06 AM
If someone takes a non-paying volunteer job because that's what they'd rather be doing, they aren't the one who deserves the applause. The one who deserves the applause is the one who's supporting them.
Cousin Dave at September 6, 2010 8:08 AM
Here's a secret about Harvard - only about 25% of admissions are competitive.
50%+ go to legacies
25% go to minorities
25% compete for the remaining slots.
That's why its so hard for unprivileged applicants to get in, there are very few slots. The school creates an artificial limit, but doesn't acknowledge this, making it seem as though all of the slots are decided under competitive criteria.
80%+ of Harvard undergrads achieve honors criteria. Almost 100% have a C or better. This is the phenomenon that Summers tried to tackle before the faculty took him out. They don't want to teach, and real grading, on real learning, would have required real instruction.
Yalie at September 6, 2010 8:29 AM
Of course. The whole "public service" line has become very old, especially when applied to people whose "service" consists of pushing paper.
It's ridiculous to say that someone writing papers on agricultural policy for a non-profit is somehow morally superior to someone who is actually a farmer producing food, or a railroader taking it to market, or a supermarket employee or executive involved in distributing it to customers.
The "non-profit" world as it now stands in largely a giant set of tailfins, a status symbol for Trustafarians and those who wish they were Trustafarians.
david foster at September 6, 2010 8:37 AM
So am I racist or evil when I say I don't care where you went to school. What can you do, and what have you accomplished?
The record isn't particularly inspiring.
MarkD at September 6, 2010 8:38 AM
Quiz: The following 5 people have some blame for the financial crises of 2008. The all have something in common. What is it ?
-George W. Bush, former Pres. Of the U.S.
-Hank Paulson, former Sec'y of the Treasury
-Chris Cox, former SEC Chmn
-Franklin Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae
-Barney Frank, Chmn, House Fin Services Comm
Ans: They all have degrees from Harvard.
Nick at September 6, 2010 10:06 AM
The bad ones were still wearing their class rings five plus years after graduation.
Posted by: Jim P
LOL, isnt that the fucking truth
lujlp at September 6, 2010 3:35 PM
And then there are those people you meet -- long, long out of college -- who find a way to mention or hint that they went to Harvard within five minutes of speaking with you.
Amy Alkon at September 6, 2010 4:03 PM
"Here's a secret about Harvard - only about 25% of admissions are competitive.
50%+ go to legacies
25% go to minorities
25% compete for the remaining slots."
I'm curious as to where you got this information and exactly how accurate it is. Even if these percentages are correct, it doesn't necessarily mean that the admitted students are unqualified. Harvard gets enough applicants that they can afford to cherrypick among the best and the brightest of the legacies and minorities-it's not as though they're struggling to fill seats. (Although it of course puts everyone else at a disadvantage.)
Shannon at September 6, 2010 7:18 PM
When reading Ms. McArdle's posting, part of my brain understands and think she has a valid point. The other part is growling over the $1.1 million dollar mansion and swank Caribbean resorts. I grew up without much money, went to college, and feel most of the time like I'm doing pretty well, but the stuff she is giving up is mostly stuff I never thought about attaining. Then again, I don't worry about the food budget that much. Just when you're dealing well, you find out about the stuff other people gave up that you might never have and never really even bothered to think about attaining.
I know, envy isn't pretty. Sorry.
KrisL at September 6, 2010 8:53 PM
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