I'm a firm believer that the one thing that can unite our citizenry is our firm and undying hatred for individual success. We love winners, just don't win "too much." It's like the idiots I hear at the start of every football season or baseball season or basketball season: "The Patriots/Yankees/Lakers always win; give somebody else a chance." Excuse me? Everybody has the same chance at the beginning of every season. Everyone's record is the same: 0-0. What you do with it from there depends on your coaching and your talent. And, some would argue like it's a bad thing, your payroll.
The same holds true for individuals. In his article, David Ignatius skewers the President for appointing Ivy League educated men and women to important posts. What's wrong with that, exactly? Shouldn't the most talented and qualified people get jobs? Sure the President has put some crony hacks in important positions (Michael Brown, Harriet Miers, etc.), but many of his important positions are filled with people who succeded at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. So what? Perhaps a graduate of DeVry should head NASA. Would that make folks feel better?
Like it or not, get pissed at me if you will, but we are by and large a stupid country. If you listen to Sean Hannity's man on the street interviews every Thursday or watch the "Jay Walking" segment of the Tonight Show, you would think that most people can't recite the Pledge of Allegiance, don't know who the Secretary of Defense is, don't know why we celebrate Independence Day, and don't know who their own Senators and Congresspeople are. Ask someone at work to name all nine Supreme Court justices. They can't. But ask them who Brad Pitt is divorcing AND who he's dating right now and they can answer that with glee.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
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3 comments:
You shouldn't make fun of DeVry.
:)
We surely do not like successful people in this country. Much of our lives/careers are spent pining to get to the top of the ladder... we covet the CEO position. It is a position of power... then what? We tear them down, because there is one thing we like more than winners, it's seeing winners fail... and FAIL MISERABLY! Boy, you actually can become a winner yourself if you take down a fellow winner. Fitzpatrick is a prime example... there are too many others to mention. I think we have the media to blame for some of it... they sensationalize a bunch, and make the news shows and magazine articles sound so dramatic and riveting... otherwise no one would watch or read. I guess it goes right back to your original point, Americans love drama, love to see losers win and winners lose! Nice blog.
Additionally...Americans love the underdog and they also love change. This spells a short party for the underdog that wins.
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