In Defense of Being Educated
Much attention was made of Hillary Clinton's interview last week with USA Today, when she noted that support for Barack Obama "among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."
Many found her comments about race divisive and problematic. Overlooked was what she said at the end -- that voters "who had not completed college were supporting me."
Let's look at this a moment.
It's fair to say that people who haven't completed college have less education than those who have completed college. And saying that that someone has less education is the same as saying they're less smart. And calling someone less smart is saying that they're -- well, dumber.
And Hillary Clinton thinks this is a badge of honor?? It's one thing, after all, to call your supporters dumber than your opponent's. It's another to proudly trumpet the fact.
Most politicians tend to present why they are the best, what they can offer to the public to make their constituency a better place. Even Ronald Reagan, who didn't set very high standards of excellence, wanted Americans to seek a "shining city upon a hill." Barack Obama's hope is "Yes, we can," to inspire Americans to reach for their best. Hillary Clinton is proudly saluting that her appeal is to the dumber voters.
Way to pander.
To be very clear, before people leap (which they will) -- calling someone "dumber" is not the same as calling them "dumb." Put two Nobel Prize-winning physicists in a room, and one will be dumber than the other. But they're both really smart people.
And also to be clear, there are college-educated people who snake through four years and leave the ivy-covered walls dumb as a rock. And people who never went past high school who you'd be happy to have them lead you anywhere.
But while we're being clear, let's also be honest.
When picking a surgeon to operate on you -- would you prefer one with a college education, or one of those unlicensed doctors? Why? If you need someone to defend you in court, are you more likely going to want to have an attorney who went to law school, and actually graduated? Yes? Why?
We tend to require college education for the most valued aspects of life. Teachers, for instance. Air traffic controllers. Registered nurses. FBI agents. Nuclear physicists. CPAs. Commercial airline pilot. Veterinarians. On and on...
George Bush says he listens to the generals on the ground. Do you? Good. But you do understand that all those generals went to college. West Point tends to make that a requirement.
By the way, though we disparage them, it's a safe bet (since we elect them) that we want our politicians to have gone to college.
Right now, there are those ready to boil up a faux-cry of "Elitist!" And a faux-cry it is, particularly because it tends to come from the party of actual elitism. But mainly, education has nothing to do with elitism. It has everything to do with human beings wanting the best. Wanting the best for themselves when needing medical care, legal defense, flying on an airplane, safe bridges, military leadership, on and on. Wanting the best, period.
People have different goals, temperaments, life situations, needs. So, some go to college, and others don't. But most people in life want more for their children than themselves, to reach loftier heights. Isn't having a good education generally the goal? Honestly? Don't we all wish for the best for our children? For us?
Honestly?
When denigrating education, understand that it has an effect. Dismissing science, math, history does not exist in a vacuum. Medical research will grow overseas. Other countries will invent computer technology once invented in America. Electronics development will take place internationally, as will the jobs. Creative automobile leadership will occur elsewhere.
Education matters. It has nothing to do with elitism. Being elitist doesn't mean striving for the best, trying to be as talented, smart and accomplished, as qualified as you can be and want others to be. That's the point of life.
Being elitist is dismissing other people's worth as people because they haven't reached your self-imposed standards. That's completely different from wanting everyone to reach that same high standard, and striving to bring that about.
Striving to reach a high standard. Hoping to become the best we can be. Working for our children to do even better than us. It's what we want.
Unless, apparently, you're Hillary Clinton. Then you proclaim that you should be president of the United States specifically because voters who support you are not as educated as your opponent's.
Senator Clinton's claim reminded me of an email I received a few days before. One of her supporters was furious at a prayer I'd written for Ms. Clinton, and said it was the last straw, that he wasn't going to vote for Barack Obama should he become the Democratic nominee. I thanked the fellow for writing, and mentioned that I said Hillary Clinton had much good in her, and might one day be president, suggesting he seemed to have missed that part.
What I didn't write was that anyone who wouldn't vote for a candidate because of what someone other than the candidate believed -- well, that person probably shouldn't vote. But then, I guess when you're going for the "My voters are dumber than yours" base, it's not surprising when occasionally that's what you get.
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"Education matters. It has nothing to do with elitism."
Amen. We need to get on the ball and heavily support promoting solid education in America, by developing our schools, fostering solid teachers and keeping them teaching, and encouraging and helping people go to college where they can learn how to learn.
America is falling behind the world in this. All empires throughout history when starting to decline, eventually fall because of 2 things: a lack of moral quality and ethics, and a decline in education among the people.
It's not only education we need, and it certainly should NOT be framed as an attempt to maintain or regain some American Empire of Glory. For some reason, more than a few people believe that "life experience" is to be valued more than education, and so intelligence and critical thinking have themselves become stigmatized. Hence, the efficacy of the "tribal-elder-I've-been-in-Washington-longer" argument. If you happen to be able to hold in your mind two perspectives on a problem, suddenly you become "unpatriotic," "elitist," or sympathetic to insert-any-random-ism-here group. "Hard working" is a descriptor used only for those "lunchbox" types, as the MSM labels them, whom we all picture slaving away in a field, or a factory, or on a construction site and so are expected to value that sweatwork as more central to what "America" means...but we do not only build with our sweat anymore.
I am in graduate school after 6 years out in that "real world" and I have worked my ass off to get where I am. I often work from 6:30 in the morning until..what time is it now...midnight to figure out how to better use my noggin, and how to use my noggin to help others....con't...
...Just because my hands are not calloused from repeatedly shoving the wicket in the sprocket, or putting the hoe to the dirt, and are instead calloused from typing thousands of words a day for the papers I write, and to the students I teach, does not mean MY work is less important than lunchboxguy's.
However, I just happen to have both a college education AND life experience. No one, and especially Senator Clinton, with all due respect, is in any position to assume I am not also schooled in the streets as well. No one is in any position to assume I have never had to work 50 hours a week just to make the bills, never had to deal with addictions and frustrations, and loss, and never had to use my wits to make my way. No one is in the position to assume that I don't down six-packs of PBR, or cruise backroads blastin' Skynyrd before I go home to read 200 pages of critical theory (for which I get paid peanuts), so if she wants to make this about social class, I say bring on the thunder. I have travelled all over this country and the world and understand that this universe is much bigger than the space between your face and this computer right now. And that it is much, much bigger than me
...That kind of understanding doesn't come only from books or only from experience. It comes from both. The urgent altruistic desire to share this particular wealth with others should never be misinterpreted as arrogance.
I know plenty of folks who are totally un"educated" but wholly wise. But to imply that I don’t know as much just because I am not as "experienced," or to devalue my work because it doesn't meet some arbitrarily chosen qualities worth the modifier, "hard," is not only rude, ignorant, and presumptuous, but also reflects the very difference between the intelligence of the educated (or educated and experienced) perpetual-youth and the intelligence of the tribal elder/experienced, "you-young-folk-don't-know-enough-to-wipe-yet" type: we know that knowledge and wisdom and understanding come in many forms. They think theirs is the best, the only one that works, and the only one that ever will. And THAT is what I call...elitism.
This was one of the first things I thought when I heard Hillary speaking so proudly of winning "white, hardworking" and less-educated folks.
What do people around the world think when they read this? They must wonder if the quote is real -- could Hillary be so stupid to say such a thing? Why would she proclaim that the very least educated people are voting for her?
It only makes sense if you have lived in this country and have absorbed the message that education (especially college) = elite, know-it-all, out of touch, snob. This message is promoted by those in power and then USED as an attack on opponents. It makes me sick because there are brilliant people out there getting such a poor education. They aren't dumb by nature, just very ill-informed.
There seems to be pockets of this country that are very isolated. The lack of higher education is only a piece of it. The same people are deprived of a decent high school education (these days they are lucky if evolution is even taught). Their communities don't have many bookstores. No magazine racks with political information from all sides. Poverty keeps them from using the internet as often as others. Church is a MUST -- and their religion is political. How powerful is THAT? It is a wonder that anyone votes against the grain -- the fact that some do is testament to the human spririt and our innate yearning for truth.
I
" They hit you at home, and they hurt you at school. They hate you if your clever and they dispise a fool... Yes, a working class hero is something to be." John Lennon.
Hillary can be our "working class hero" .. and it is a simple fact that people in the "less educated" states, - which tend to be the more religious states, - which also tend to be the more racially divisive states.. - which also tend to be the poorest states, - also tend to vote overwhelmingly republican - hmmm, I wonder if this all means something? - Anyway,
Not college educated doesn't necessarily equate to dumber. Just ask my high school educated boyfriend with the 156 IQ. His mind is as attuned to subtleties as anyone. Just sayin'.....
Good point, but the author of the post makes the same point. Read it again and you will see.
Makes you wonder if she were elected would she make it even harder for people to attain higher education thereby assuring that she would be re-elected to a second term?
Because Obama's main spiel is that he wants everyone to have the same opportunities that he had.
He wants everyone to have a share of the American dream and he wants to facilitate their achieving it.
I have never heard him bragging that that the college educated are voting for him.
Things that make you go hhmmmmm.
Well, sure. That's what the Republicans do, and she is a Republican. They want to ensure that our electorate remains stupid because it is key to keeping the White House. One of the key benefits to dumb voters is that they still believe the electoral college is a good thing. And Republicans just love the electoral college...
For too long the lowest common denominator in this country has been the kingmaker in politics. It is one of the reasons this country has slipped so much in the world.
I agree with you. I don't understand why we always play to the LCD but it is certainly costing us a lot in terms of lack of advancement in the sciences and in politics. Is the plan for the rest of the country to become more like WV? Does anyone really want that?
It's such bs b/c that pols have always made those statements about Tax-achuesetts but Mass has one of the highest concentrations of smart, innovative people and of people earning large salaries.
So would you rather live at that level or at the avge. WV level? The pundits talk low brow but live high brow. Go figure.
Interesting example... Senator Clinton also won Massachusetts! LOL!!!
-MS
Huffpo - I edited this version to be more palatable. I am an athiest/agnostic and frankly find it offensive that you won't post this. If I were arguing FOR religion, this wouldn't be an problem. I am a devoted Huffpo fan and an active blogger. Please post the below:
We need to recognize the correlation between religion and education. Hence, the WV results, the red states, and pretty much every religious demographic in the world. I believe that most politicians have a religious affiliation beacuse they have to. An unappologetic agnostic or athiest politician doesn't have a snowballs chance in hell(pardon the pun) at the presidency and it makes me sick. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a politician that could spout off religious scripture in a moments notice.
We need to have education as our number one priority, as a result, most of the big issues that face our nation would cease to exitst.
ORGANIZED RELIGION IS THE PUREST FORM OF NATURAL SELECTION!!!
You know there're lots of people with college and graduate degrees who follow one faith or another, right?
You're missing the point. With 6 billion people in the world, I don't assume there aren't exceptions to the rule. The operative word is correlation.
Faith and organized religion have nothing to do with one another. Faith is faith. Organized religion is a money making venture.
Yeah sure, GWBush proves that stupidity = success. So who needs education?
It's all about No PROFITEER Left Behind.
Remember, Bush has degrees from Harvard and Yale, so if you are equating education with intelligence, I don't think George Bush would be your best example.
I can't believe more people have not commented on this. She literally brags that the less educated a white person is the more likely they are to support her. Bad news for Obama. The whites who have a college degree favor him. (statistically). They are a smaller minority. But it does explain why in "rural" locations white people keep saying" I heard he is a Muslim". Is wikipedia that hard to use?
pimpdown (it's funny just typing that),
It's hard to imagine sometimes, but there are people who don't spend a lot of time using the internet to do research, or get their news, or look for opposing viewpoints on issues. Those people tend to be older, less educated, and also tend to earn less money. People have busy lives trying to pay bills, and raise families. Staying fully engaged in national and international political matters is really time consuming. College students and people with higher incomes, tend to have more free time, and are more likely to have access to high speed internet connections (most colleges provide these as part of your tuition these).
This lack of access to information is the Republican "sweet spot", and Hillary is using it the Democratic Primaries, mostly out of necessity. Obama co-opted the rest of her base with his campaign. So all she has left are people who don't have time to sift through propoganda to determine who to vote for, or have such deep-seated prejudices that they weren't going to vote for the "black muslim guy" no matter who he was running against. There are people in parts of West Va and in other backwaters all over this country who would literally vote for a Satan/Hitler ticket if the only other choice was a "black muslim guy".
The fact is this: everyone of us contributes to our society in our own way from the top to the bottom. The bad thing is politicians like the Clintons who use the difference between us and make it into something insinuous for their own gains. Clinton can't be "I-am-from..." everywhere she goes as in PA, WV, IL, NY, NJ,... or "I- fight- for..." depending on what audience she talks to. If she won big states those states are important, when she struggles, she said small states like WV, KY are important. She has been in the government business for the long time and she said "I-will-fight-Washington- for- you". It sounds so hollow. I'd think people who worked there for as long as she did, would have fought and won Washington a long time ago but she is just in it with lobbyists, big companies' interests,.... The mystery to me is some voters are still didn't see it and still support her. for me, I can't stand to listen to her fake voice and face anymore. It sounds like an actress who has passed her time.
Yeah, her voice now bothers me more than Bush's. But if she were our nominee, I will support her wholeheartedly. I will just have to mute the t.v. for yet another 8 years. I guess I went off topic here, didn't I?
"Hillary Clinton is proudly saluting that her appeal is to the dumber voters."
Gee, Bob. I'm not even a democrat and I find you offensive. Why don't you just go ahead and alienate half the democratic voting core.
Hillary was the one bragging about it you uninformed clown.
Whitegoldwielder-
I am guessing that, after his self-pitying "Don't touch me" phase, that Thomas Covenant would have been a Democrat. He sacrificed himself (eventually) to save the people of the Land. Not a Republican strong point, there...
Way to take a sentence out of context!!! A superb example of that, actually. Read the article again carefully. Perhaps pretend that you are having a conversationg with Bob. Do you really think he is saying that everyone who votes for Hillary is dumb?
NO. He is making a subtle (though obvious to many) point. That is what education, real education, teaches you to see/read/hear.
Gee, whitegoldwielder. Why don't you read and assimilate the whole blog? Hillary is the one exploiting the fact that many in Appalachia are less educated and racist, not Mr. Elisberg. If you aren't offended by her exploitative, divisive pandering why would you hold this author to much higher standards than she? He is only remarking on what HRC has bragged about and used to her advantage herself. The sad part is, Sen. Obama is fighting so hard to help people exactly like those in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virgina and Kentucky. A large number of them simply are not well-educated enough or well-informed enough to realize this.
Whitedogwielder
This remindsme of the easily offended republicans when it comes to god, lapel pins, flags, etc, but the perpetually perplexed republicans when people are offended by their racial comments. What is offensive to you and why? Are you dumb ? Or he fact that Hillary is saluting dumber voters ? Or the fact that the smart americans makin less then 50000, who chose to quit school, and go to work are being called dumb ( I guess, it is smart to quit school, and go to work and then be bitter about it ) is what you find offensive ?
I was not born in the USA. To Asian education is top priority!! When I heard the argument Hillary is making about how the uneducated is supporting her and that is the reason she should be president is so laughable. Also, so sad for America. We are relying on dumb asses to choose our president? Why are there so many dumb jokes of Bush? We will be the laughing stock of the world if indeed Hillary becomes the next president by getting the dummies' vote.
This is the first article I read really equating uneducated as dumber and how Hillary is mocking them and they are too dumb to understand. Why are other journalists afraid to tell the truth? Are we leaving all the truth to be voiced by the comedians? Jon, Cobert or SNL?
Laksa, I am starting to like you more and more.
You have an outlook that is refreshingly sane.
Someone get this person an editorial column, STAT.
I agree 100%....How uneducated do you have to be not to realize that Hillary is insulting you?
Why do people vote against their own best interest?
Now most W. Virginia voters think "gas tax holiday" from "coal miner daughter Hillary" is a great idea'.
Are they voting for something or against something?
Help me! I'm talking to stupid people!
by Snipe6ib
I need to stop talking to Hillary supporters.
I remember getting that little plastic sheet in elementary school on how a law
was created, with the white house on the top...
Yet for some reason every Hillary supporter I talk to rambles on about how great she is for trying to get a gas-tax break done. How at least she is willing to do something or the short-term.
HILLARY IS NOT THE PRESIDENT! As much as you hate it, Bush is still president. BUSH WILL STILL HAVE TO SIGN IT!
So basically Hillary's plan is to get Bush to tax his best friends. THATS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. This bill was Dead on Arrival. Hillary knows this. She’s only out there for herself, nothing more, nothing less.
“Follow the stupid man, and shun the wise man” Is this to be believed?
Key Democratic Voter (?) [“he who knows not that he knows not is a stupid man- shun him”]
Elitist (?) [“he who knows that he knows is a wise man- follow him”]
Memorable Quote:
"Those of us who choose not to be politicians are punished- by being governed by those who are dumber" [ghostwriter]
President Kerry garnered the elite, well-educated, and well-heeled. He is running for a second term.
Kerry was the intellectual in the race. Bush was the fool. That kind of proves Mr. Elisberg's theory, doesn't it?
If I follow your reasoning, it's better to be a smart loser than a dumb winner.
But he had the personality of a corpse. Quite the opposite of Obama, Jethro.
Heh! Or the personality of an undertaker at the very least.
RobtBrock: I wonder how many people at home and in Iraq would still be alive today if the elite, US veteran "President" Kerry had prevailed. Somehow, I think he would have handled 9-11 in a more well-educated, well-reasoned manner. I, too, am tired of the presidents people want to have a beer and go hunting with. I want a president who is well-informed, understands historical perspectives at home and abroad, and seeks coalitions and collaboration instead of confrontation and threats on every front. The time for the imperial presidency is over.
Kerry had the face of a horse, no humor, no charisma, no personality, and was portrayed as a traitor and an elitist snob. Yet he, depending on what version of history you believe:
1. Came within 60,000 Ohio votes of becoming our President
2. Actually won the election, but it was stolen by Republicans in Ohio
Either way, If both Gore and Kerry can win the presidency (remember that Gore won?), certainly Obama can.
The whole point of this piece is that being educated is not BAD! Many people in this country will rally around a beer-drinking, gun-toting, trailer-trash FOOL before they'll support an intellectual. Being educated does not guarantee intelligence of course (GWB is the perfect case in point), but it's nothing to be ashamed of either.
Bear in mind that GWB's standards for "education" entailed a low-C average at a prominent university which he was never qualified to attend.
When someone categorically states that less college education mean a person is less smart, we have the problem with Obama and his supporters in a cashew shell.
We have the stereotypical Democratic elitist attitude that put Ronald Reagan, GHW Bush, and GW Bush in the White House.
I'm college educated but my 68 year old brother with an 8th grade education is every bit as bright as me or any of my college educated friends.
Once again, the rebuilding of the Democratic party begins immediately following Barry's concession phone call to President-elect John McCain.
Book sense doesn't = common sense...
Clearly, you are lacking the common...
It was HILLARY CLINTON that called Barack Obama and elitest because she was losing a and all she could accomplish is pandering on people bigotry and fears..
She is a winner alright!
As for John McCain, he can have Kentucky and West VA, but Barack Obama will win!
where'd you go to college?
Clearly you didn't read the entire article. Please read the whole thing before spouting off your agenda.
This is classic. You have no reading comprehension skills and you are a Republican (the party which has actively lobbied for the dumbing down of America because it benefits them). You are a walking thesis paper.
Try reading the piece again. Perhaps pause after each paragraph and analyze the theme.
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