William A. Henry (1950–1994)
Autore di In Defense of Elitism
Sull'Autore
Opere di William A. Henry
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Data di nascita
- 1950
- Data di morte
- 1994-6-28
- Sesso
- male
- Organizzazioni
- Boston Globe
Time - Premi e riconoscimenti
- Pulitzer Prize (Criticism, 1980)
Utenti
Recensioni
Liste
Potrebbero anche piacerti
Statistiche
- Opere
- 4
- Utenti
- 417
- Popolarità
- #58,443
- Voto
- 3.6
- Recensioni
- 12
- ISBN
- 9
I would agree that having competent folks in business, education, and government is highly desirable, and that these folks are indeed the elite of the society. I would also agree that demagogues and minorities with resentment for (real or imagined) wrongs have successfully made "elite" a pejorative term.
But this guy lives in some sort of dream world, where there is really no excuse for not making it to the top unless you haven't got what it takes. Forget about the many reasons why someone who's smart and talented might not be able to attain that success.
In the nearly 25 years since this book was written, we have seen income inequality reach proportions that threaten the survival of democracy. And this has happened, why? Because some portion of that elite have used their meritorious skills to enact laws or remove laws that enable them to concentrate their wealth and lower it for everyone else. It is these consequences of an unrestrained "elite" that negate every argument this book puts forth. It might have had a shelf life for a few years with some misguided critics of quotas or political correctness, but those things haven't led to the demise of a level playing field -- it's the triumph of an unrestrained global elite that did that.… (altro)