tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74382229759130370312024-03-12T17:29:11.666-07:00The Naked DollarComments from finance/tech guy turned novelist. Author of best seller Campusland. Follow on Twitter: @SJohnston60.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.comBlogger381125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-76944950567952849952024-02-11T07:35:00.000-08:002024-02-11T07:42:31.933-08:00How Now, Democrats?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWnsxDZdWfIfXH8cZX-ZtbFV3Tl82WbBq5z150VRyIqb2aweVTTCyy3DYv1Q4YYjawpKMc9Gejh221ZMGAO7OmTjKWcVJoTUXRwq5K9OtYGH8NkGDL0OFpUMv-2nIisXSImSrHh1YAZSZlGHOyzwdC05--YEw-3NH-nMeRWsEbKBe-mk8qgZv8f-oNHDRd" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="915" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWnsxDZdWfIfXH8cZX-ZtbFV3Tl82WbBq5z150VRyIqb2aweVTTCyy3DYv1Q4YYjawpKMc9Gejh221ZMGAO7OmTjKWcVJoTUXRwq5K9OtYGH8NkGDL0OFpUMv-2nIisXSImSrHh1YAZSZlGHOyzwdC05--YEw-3NH-nMeRWsEbKBe-mk8qgZv8f-oNHDRd=w349-h398" width="349" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I don't blog about something unless I have something that is (hopefully) original to say, which is why I don't blog a lot. In the world of contemporary politics, especially, it is very difficult to have an original thought. There are literally thousands of pundits out there.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Today, I have an original thought. (At least, I think it is. I don't read <i>everything</i>.) I'll get to that thought in a moment.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This was a remarkable week in Washington as the left and the media were shocked, <i>shocked</i> to discover what all of us already knew, that Joe Biden is a few fries short of a Happy Meal. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Actually, they <i>did</i> know. Of course they did. The shock was that their own Justice Department said the quiet part out loud. Merrick, you idiot, don't you <i>read</i> these things before they go out? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">My guess is, the conversation went like this:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Garland: So, there are no charges against the president, right?</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Special Counsel Hur: Yes, sir.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Garland: Good job Ben—I mean Robert. Release the report.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Garland probably threw up on his shoes when he heard the details later. The half-life of Robert Hur's career can now be measured in nanoseconds.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">These events have elevated the "Joe" problem to Defcon One. Various solutions include invoking the 25th Amendment, but that would result in...Kamala. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">You see, it isn't just "what do we do about Joe?" it's also "what do we do about Kamala?"</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">There's so much hand wringing in Democrat circles that I hear the Beltway has run out of salve. Things would be so much easier if she weren't around. They could just slide in the next guy (or non-binary person, or whatever). </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But Kamala cannot be simply disappeared. The woke wing would throw a tantrum befitting of their juvenile status.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, while I am loathe to ever make suggestions to help the Democrats, the answer to their problems is one I haven't heard. It involves the following steps:</span></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: large;">Joe steps down for health reasons sometime around the convention. Dr. Dr. Dr. Jill will have to be talked into this, of course, but at this point things are so bad I believe it could happen.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">Gavin Newsom rides in as the party's savior at the convention. Democrats and the media rally around Newsom in all the excitement. The weight of having to make excuses for "Old Joe" is off their backs. Note that Newsom deftly manages to avoid the scrutiny of a primary season—an important step, given that his record in California is indefensible.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Here's the lynchpin</b>: Because Biden resigned instead of riding things out till January, Kamala gets to be president for a few months. This is her payoff. She'll be the first blah, blah, blah. Picture on stamps, statues, children's books on the presidents. Giant speaking fees and book deals later. No one could take it away from her. </span></li></ol><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Step three is what I hear no one discussing and it's the only answer to "what to do" about Kamala. She's an idiot and cannot be allowed near the Supreme Court (despite the precedent for idiots already having been set with Sotomayor). She's already been a senator and no need to get Adam Schiff pissed. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The Dems will figure that they can hide her at Camp David for a few months, trot her out for a few speeches, and maybe keep her finger away from the button. They certainly won't let her near the Newsom campaign.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This is a very dangerous scenario for the GOP because Newsom is a dangerous man. He can lie to your face and you know he's lying, <i>he</i> knows he's lying, but those teeth! That hair! They all lie, so we might as well have a charming liar, right?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, tell me I'm wrong.</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-12512514339994194342023-12-11T08:13:00.000-08:002023-12-11T09:12:52.092-08:00The Academy of Rot<p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEica2lnkuHJUTWO4KNzSoideCgcJ-88qrmeLpyxCPw8oj03rqfdBNvObzfvoHt4Bs1NAmNbaAbrfU4LcnWkQB1Y_-XEdAKL7kO0TowzR3PyX_Q29A6aPwGcTpB-HWdni1HgwrH5l-YL27Sw-XVEtWretf3TpvHVWD3c7O4qWyyTSkxX2d__GcbuStreIcDx/s1384/Untitled.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1384" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEica2lnkuHJUTWO4KNzSoideCgcJ-88qrmeLpyxCPw8oj03rqfdBNvObzfvoHt4Bs1NAmNbaAbrfU4LcnWkQB1Y_-XEdAKL7kO0TowzR3PyX_Q29A6aPwGcTpB-HWdni1HgwrH5l-YL27Sw-XVEtWretf3TpvHVWD3c7O4qWyyTSkxX2d__GcbuStreIcDx/w379-h254/Untitled.png" width="379" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Smug Patrol</span></div></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I wasn't making it up. None of it. After screaming into the void for so long, others are seeing the light.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What the hell took them so long?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Whatever. Welcome to the party.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The catalyst, of course, was the evisceration of three university presidents at the hands of Elise Stefanik (Harvard '06). I cannot recall another time when congressional testimony was so self-damaging. (The tobacco companies in the 80s maybe?)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>But this, this was incredible, the sight of these three women, self-immolating right in front of us, smirking all the while.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I don't need to add any commentary to what's already been said of the three, other than to point out that Harvard's Gay has now also been accused of plagiarism, academia's mortal sin. If true, will even <i>that</i> be enough to get the highly intersectional Gay fired? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Harvard's board is run by Penny Pritzker, of the odious Pritzker family, who are much of the hard cash behind the trans rights movement. Don't expect her to put Gay's head on a spike.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Several hundred Harvard faculty have signed a letter supporting Gay, citing how critical the university's "independence" is. Yeah, get back to me when you don't accept $625 million a year of U.S. taxpayer money, not to mention hundreds of millions more from dodgy foreign sources.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">My money's on cowardice, always a safe bet when it comes to university boards. The Harvard board meets today.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I have been blogging, writing, and giving speeches about the ideological cesspools that schools have become for, well, decades now. Yale has been my most frequent target. President Peter Salovey, a de facto character in my novel Campusland, must be thanking his lucky stars that he decided to retire this year. Brilliant timing, Pete!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But really, where has everyone been? The evidence has been right there for all to see for <i>years</i>. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For what it's worth, when I got out of Yale in the 80s, I loved the place, and I still do—<i>that</i> Yale, the one I went to. It was an incredible experience. Was it liberal? Sure, but I never felt like I had to hide what I thought about anything. Plenty of my friends were liberal, and still are. Pretty sure <i>all</i> my professors were liberal, but they didn't punish you for being something else.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Everyone got along. We argued, then we drank beer. Sometimes we did both at the same time. And sometime we just skipped the parts that didn't involve beer.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">That Yale is no more. I wrote my last check fifteen years ago, and then actively campaigned to get others to stop, too.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But,<i> but</i>...there were always the kids, <i>your </i>kids, the ones you wanted to go, because you thought they could go to your Yale, or your Harvard. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">You had misgivings, and they increased over the years, but you were still in thrall to the place it was. You kept writing those checks.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What you didn't get was that your kids couldn't go to your Yale or your Harvard or wherever, because it wasn't there. It hadn't been for years. Sure, those campuses were prettier than ever, and those Potemkin Village they set up for you at reunions were always nice, but they hid nothing but rot.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The fantasy dies hard. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The checks kept getting signed.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The funny part is, few could write checks big enough. You labored under the impression that your $50,000 check was getting Scooter in.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Wrong. The number these days is $20 million, at least at Yale. (It takes a lot to move the needle of a $42 billion endowment.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>So, while I am glad that the likes of Bill Ackman have woken up, I still have to ask: where the f**k have you been? Did it really take murdered Jewish babies to open your eyes?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Apparently.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">By the way, there currently exists a HUGE market opportunity for any college that wants to revert to being, well, normal. Eliminate all your "studies" departments, fire your entire DEI and Title IX staffs, enforce free speech and discipline violators. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This isn't hard. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">You'll probably have to put up with some loud protests, but know that's just a sign you're doing the right thing. You'll also have to stop taking federal money, but think how much you'll save firing all those administrators.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Do these things and you will stand apart from all the rest. There is a significant portion of the population <i>dying</i> for this. Money and applications will flow like a river.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I'm dropping another chapter of my new book here, All the Lovely People. This one feels especially appropriate.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Read on if you're interested.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">(Note: All the Lovely People is not out yet. I have just submitted it to St. Martin's Press.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-indent: 24px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Yale Could Be a Reach</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“We’re having trouble with the essay.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“William means <i>Ginny</i> is having trouble, Ms. Collins,” said Ellie.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Of course. And please, call me Faith.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Faith Collins was Lenox Hill’s longtime college counselor. Padma was also in attendance, which wasn’t typical, but board members were always handled with care. This consideration pleased William.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, well, they all expect you to write about some terrific adversity you’ve overcome,” continued William. “What’s Ginny supposed to say, that she had trouble skiing the back bowls?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “What William is trying to say, Faith, is that while we’re proud we’ve been able to give our daughters a good life, it now seems like a liability we need to apologize for.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Oh no, of course not.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">This was an increasingly common source of angst, Faith knew; the challenge of growing up in a life without challenges. Most Lenox girls took for granted the kind of privilege that few in the world could even imagine. Most had second, even third, homes. Private jets were common.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I mean look at this,” said William, handing some papers over to Faith. “How are we supposed to deal with this?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was a printout of the Yale application. William had highlighted an essay question which read</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, something that really forced you out of your comfort zone. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?</span></i></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both Padma and Faith knew this was a question, in one form or another, on almost every college application. In 2023, the Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in the famous Harvard case, but left the door open a crack by allowing universities to consider candidates’ “life experiences.” This left admissions departments to decide for themselves just what constituted life experiences they were interested in. For many, this meant soliciting personal tales of victimization at the hands of a discriminatory culture. Affluent white applicants gainfully tried what they could, documenting every mildly unpleasant interlude in their own short lives, real or imagined.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">This approach was of little use to the Sandersons.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Our consultant says to write some nonsense about when Ginny’s aunt died, but Ginny hardly knew her,” said William.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Faith winced at the reference to an outside consultant. College counseling was <i>her</i> job, but increasingly parents were hiring expensive outsiders as well, ones who promised the moon and seldom delivered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“We hear they’re going test optional,” said William. “Ginny got a…what was it, Ellie?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“A 1520.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “But now, what? It doesn’t matter?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Will, I’m sure it matters,” said Ellie.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I think I know what’s going on,” continued William. “Get rid of objective standards and it frees schools up to pick kids just on their personal narratives. Am I wrong?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">He was not, thought Padma, but she could hardly say so, nor could she admit she was entirely in favor of the shift in policy. “I think it’s fair to say that colleges are just trying to do what we here at Lenox Hill have done, which is to make opportunities available to a wider set of applicants,” she said.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“And we’re all for that. We all value diversity. But I’d also like my daughter to get into Yale.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Well, about that…” said Faith.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here it comes, thought Padma. She was perfectly willing to let Faith be the heavy. William Sanderson needed to be managed. Truth be told, she was kind of looking forward to it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“We’ve been actively talking to the admissions people up there,” said Faith. “You should know it’s going to be a tough year.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Ellie, in case you don’t speak college counselor, that’s code for bend over in the shower and open your wallet.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I’m sure Padma and Faith are doing their best,” said Ellie, disquieted by William’s aggressive posture. It wasn’t like him.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“William, Ellie, you are both highly valued members of the Lenox community, and you’ve been quite generous” said Padma. “I should ask, though. Is Yale officially Ginny’s first choice? She hasn’t shared that with us.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It…will be,” said William.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Honestly,” interjected Ellie, “my own view is that there are lots of places she could be happy. The Ivies aren’t the only schools that offer a good education.” William looked at her like she had two heads. “But Ginny’s our daughter and if she decides on Yale than that’s what I’ll support. It’s her decision.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Of…course,” said Padma. “And we’ll do what we can.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“When did this process become such an ordeal?” said William. “I don’t remember this from my day at all.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It’s true, things have evolved,” said Padma, trying to project a warmth she decidedly didn’t feel. “This process can be as stressful for parents as it is for the kids. Sometimes even more so.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Ginny’s great-grandfather was Class of ’38. She’s fourth generation.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, we know, and Ginny is a wonderful applicant. But these matters of legacy, well, they just don’t carry the weight they used to.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“So, for the sake of argument, what’s the number?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Padma, of course, knew what William meant, but decided to play dumb, even though she’d specifically prepared for this moment. The cynicism of the conversation carved tiny pieces out of her soul. “The number?” she asked.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, the number. What are they looking for in New Haven to make this happen?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Ah, I see. Well, they did suggest certain levels of support that would be warmly received.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“And they are?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Five million would—“</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“You’re kidding,” said William.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Five million will get a candidate’s folder a serious second look.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“A second look? What does that even mean?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It’s somewhat ambiguous, deliberately so, but it definitely improves one’s visibility. In our experience it means that an applicant’s folder will get read twice.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“How nice,” said William. “Five million for an extra five minutes of their time. A million dollars a minute. New York law firms have nothing on the Yale Admissions Department!”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">William now felt decidedly stupid for the apparently meaningless $10,000 gifts he’d been making annually to Yale for years, thinking he was paving the way. Last year, he’d upped it to $25,000.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“What’s the <i>real</i> number?” he asked.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Excuse me, but what happened to merit?” asked Ellie. “Shouldn’t Ginny’s record count for itself?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It’s more complicated than that,” said Padma. “And remember, we don’t have complete transparency. Yale will do what Yale will do. It’s fair to say that priorities have…evolved.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>But money still talks,</i> thought William. He recalled how one wag called Ivy League universities “hedge funds with schools attached.” They were nothing if not effective fundraising machines. “Which brings me back to my original question. The number. For the sake of argument, what are they actually getting these days?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I don’t know that they like to get too specific about these things, but the number twenty million did come up. If you want to remove as much uncertainty as possible, that’s the number.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Those greedy sons of bitches.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“And usually admittance in those circumstances involves taking a gap year so the applicant doesn’t get counted in the official U.S. News data. They call it the Z-list.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“William,” said Ellie. “You can’t possibly consider this.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Well, there’s always another way to play it, El,” said William. “I think you know what I mean.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“<i>No</i>,” said Ellie. “We’re not going there, either. This should be based on merit.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“But you just heard that it’s not. I don’t know why you have to be so stubborn about it.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Is there something we should know?” asked Padma.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It’s nothing,” said Ellie. “I apologize.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Then we’re back to money,” said William.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Or maybe Ginny goes somewhere else?” said Ellie. “There are lots of good schools out there. I’m hearing wonderful things about SMU, and there’s Michigan, or maybe somewhere smaller like Middlebury.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Sandersons always—“</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Go to Yale, I know, but, for God’s sake, William.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“There’s an easier way, Ellie, and you know it.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“<i>No</i>,” said Ellie.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Padma wondered what William could possibly mean.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“If it’s helpful,” said Faith, chiming in, “the Yale pledge can be paid in installments.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“How nice of them,” said William.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of all the facets of her job, dealing with parents like William Sanderson was the one Padma hated the most. She had seen his type many times, men who think things should be given to them by the simple fact of their existence. Men who drifted upward by virtue of their birth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Sanderson’s name was floated for the board, she had done some research. His firm, Bedrock, loudly trumpeted its “values,” but many on the left felt it was a cynical ploy, and that their commitment was skin deep. Sanderson dutifully parroted those values in the media, appearing frequently on Bloomberg and CNBC, but Padma’s instincts told her that Sanderson’s own commitment to those values was entirely situational.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">She had quietly lobbied to keep him off the board, but Sanderson’s half million dollar pledge to the capital campaign secured his spot. His saving grace, though, was that he was a coward. That was Padma’s take having watched him the last year or so. This made him pliant, at least on matters that didn’t concern fucking Yale.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sandersons go to Yale. </i>My God, was it possible to be any more entitled? Spending precious political capital to get Ginny Sanderson into Yale was <i>not</i> on Padma’s list of professional priorities. The path had been cleared for the Ginnys of the world for far too long.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But Sanderson was on the board, a board she had to occasionally placate. Or act like it, anyway.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The thought amused her. The board really had nothing to do with running the school. For the most part, all she had to do was attend quarterly meetings and tell them how well everything was going and what a <i>special</i> place Lenox was and how <i>special</i> the girls were. If there were aspects that <i>weren’t</i> special—and there always were—they really didn’t want to hear about it anyway. People like William Sanderson didn’t serve on school boards to solve problems or do any actual work.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, for the most part, the Lenox board served Padma’s purposes. Sanderson and the others gave her a wide latitude to run things as she saw fit, assuming they were any paying attention at all. And Padma knew why, too. The school held the ultimate trump card, the one William Sanderson was pushing so hard on: college recommendations.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Parents never saw the final letters. They were enormously important because they couldn’t be gamed or fabricated or bought like so much else in the college process. And at Lenox, all recommendations had to be personally approved by <i>her</i>. She had seen to that. A simple tweak of an adjective or two could sink an Ivy applicant. “Brilliant” became “intelligent,” or “outstanding” became “above average.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Padma had also tightened up the language in the parent contract, giving her the power to banish problematic families like the Ellisons. That got approved in a single email to Duncan with the proposed contract attached. She doubted he even opened it. No doubt the fate of the Ellisons had sent shivers through the community.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so, they all danced to her tune.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But her meeting with Sanderson really stuck in her craw. Sure, board members expected preferential treatment, and they usually got it. That’s the way things had worked for generations. But Padma didn’t like William Sanderson, not one bit. If ever there was an embodiment of the WASP old boy network, it was he. There were others out there, others like Barbara Selkirk, who would do more than just warm a board seat and look the other way. They would join her in the fight.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">She would bide her time. Barbara had already recommended a few names and Padma was smart, certainly smarter than Sanderson. Perhaps an opportunity would present itself to put things right. What kind of opportunity? She wasn’t sure, but she’d know it when she saw it.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Sandersons had taken up enough of her time, so Padma went online to check the Sentinel. Padma almost never read the Sentinel, considering the paper to be a reckless purveyor of alt-right propaganda. But right now, it served her purposes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;">And there it was, Dina’s article.</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-91314654446381223702023-10-23T15:49:00.002-07:002023-10-23T15:49:44.150-07:00New Chapter<p> <span style="font-size: large;">You've probably noticed I haven't posted anything lately. That's because I've been hard at work on my new novel, All the Lovely People.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I'm almost done!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For grins, here's another sample chapter:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dina Campbell stared at her laptop, willing the ideas to come. A weekly deadline didn’t seem too onerous to an outsider, but it crept up on you like a silent cat.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Her specialty was longer-form features, mostly on city culture, which the Daily Sentinel ran every Sunday in its expanded edition. She was expected to come up with something fresh each week. <i>God</i>, it was so much harder than people thought.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps another glass of chardonnay.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She walked to her refrigerator, which was mostly empty. Some leftover condiments, and several bottles of budget wine, and some leftover Chinese takeout; the cliched refrigerator items of any single New Yorker. Home was a small one bedroom on the Upper West Side, so it wasn’t a long walk. Filling her glass two-thirds of the way she then returned to her desk, now occupied by her rescue cat, Ruth, named for one of her personal icons. She shooed her off. Why she got the thing, she still didn’t know. She didn’t even like cats.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dina was working on a piece about climate-conscious food choices, but knew it was journalistic piffle. (Vegan, basically.) It lacked <i>edge</i>. Staring out the window didn’t help much either. Once, she could just make out part of the Hudson River between two other buildings. Now, she looked about twenty feet into a brick wall. Somehow a developer bought the air rights, and her view was now of the backside of a condo tower. Her apartment was rent controlled, though, and she could never leave, even if she could afford to.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The wine made her maudlin.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Once, she’d been a rising star, a wunderkind fresh from the <i>Crimson</i>, her ticket stamped for journalistic glory. She got hired by the <i>Times</i> and sent to their Paris desk, a plum post. There, while covering other assignments, she met some Muslims, the North African ones who lived in the notorious estates. She painstakingly cultivated the relationships, earning their trust, sensing it would pay off.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She saw they were a community adrift, allowed to live in France, but never be allowed to <i>be</i> French. France bitterly held on to its cultural self-image and American notions of a “melting pot” were not welcomed there. Post 9-11, she could feel tensions rising as the police turned a sharp eye towards the Muslim populace, or in some cases, did the opposite, and allowed estates to virtually self-govern, looking the other way as they adopted Sharia law.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the sweltering summer of 2005, things boiled over. Police, responding to a theft report, arrived to arrest several Muslim boys who may or may not have been responsible. Two of the boys tried to hide in a nearby power substation and were electrocuted. The electrocution caused a wide power outage which, combined with the news of the boys’ deaths, sparked widespread rioting. One group attacked a police station, forcing an evacuation. The subsequent occupation of the station lasted over two weeks.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The occupiers decided they wanted someone to tell their side of the story, and, through their network, they reached out to Dina. She was invited to the station and ended up embedded there for the duration. Her daily dispatches were dictated over her phone as all power to the station remained shut. It made her feel like a war correspondent.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The series, appearing under her byline, won wide notice for its compassionate portrayal of a desperate generation of young Muslims who saw no future for themselves. It scored her a Front Page Award, awarded to achievement by women in journalism.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If she was giving an honest account of things, it was that moment, that exact moment, when she flew to New York and rose to the podium to accept her award, that was a high water mark after which began a slow, almost imperceptible slide to her current station, writing for a tabloid from a cramped one bedroom. The <i>Times</i>, cutting back like everyone else on international coverage, let her go in a year after the award. Americans were too insular, and frankly too <i>stupid</i>, her editor told her, to care about what happens in France or Yemen or Indonesia.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After Paris, Dina moved around the globe with the wire services, accepting diminished assignments in different posts. It had the patina of glamour, but also made it impossible to keep relationships. She had dated a series of men over the years, most from her own profession. They tended to be rakes and far too impressed with themselves. There was an Al Jezeera correspondent with a fetish for mild bondage and later a CNN anchor whose amorous attentions could only be consummated while watching tapes of himself. That one had lasted a few months.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps more than anything, the pay was a source of resentment. This was not a journalistic phenomenon limited to Dina, of course. The rise of the internet also gave rise to thousands of news sources, most of them free. This led to a steady decline in compensation for the entire industry, at least relative to other professions. That there was still a constant supply of over-educated Ivy League trust fund brats willing to work for next-to-nothing didn’t help.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The worst part, for Dina, was tracking the careers of her Harvard classmates, particularly the ones she considered idiots, those eating club swells. Many had pursued investment banking or private equity and were making millions, and for what? Moving money around? Others had gone into law. She’d once respected that cadre somewhat more; they’d gone to law school with high ideals. But then they ended up at Skadden or Cravath or Simpson Thatcher just doing the bidding of the bankers—and still making millions, although perhaps a few less.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many had houses in the Hamptons and Dina burned with resentment that she would never be more than a weekend guest, deposited there on an overcrowded Jitney because she didn’t own a car.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dina’s salary from the Sentinel was $90,000. $91,250, to be exact. She’d gone to <i>Harvard</i>, and here she was, the wrong side of forty, making ninety-one thousand and two hundred and fifty goddamn dollars. Surviving in New York on that was next to impossible. Her banker classmates could take that free market bullshit they spouted and shove it out their asses because it clearly wasn’t rewarding intelligence the way it should.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dina looked down from the brick wall and noticed her wine glass was empty. She got up to take the six steps necessary to get back to the kitchenette. Perhaps inspiration would be found there. At age forty-eight, it felt like it was all just slipping by. She needed something to rescue her from the bitterness that was becoming all-consuming.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She needed a story.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A big one.</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-41014185515082571842023-05-15T14:24:00.001-07:002023-06-10T14:53:51.060-07:00"You Died Three Times Last Night"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEL3rVyl-UTFcbZimO1_YvIi2APYhefVwP8Aow9HhovgIQu1OfFzBsjQ_7RClP8oBgWSMNN7jN8N1xumzJKwEZ-Zl-kMArBr5fUu9rxJDBJKa3l62YH3u9BqUaaVweCi9lsivJDSYqx4645StMzJ83IMeWF2EDriKwrf716kwxGqUCmoOKBPBhNrxyrg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="640" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEL3rVyl-UTFcbZimO1_YvIi2APYhefVwP8Aow9HhovgIQu1OfFzBsjQ_7RClP8oBgWSMNN7jN8N1xumzJKwEZ-Zl-kMArBr5fUu9rxJDBJKa3l62YH3u9BqUaaVweCi9lsivJDSYqx4645StMzJ83IMeWF2EDriKwrf716kwxGqUCmoOKBPBhNrxyrg=w440-h155" width="440" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">I have just had both the privilege and the pain of a unique experience. Well, maybe not unique, but really, really, unusual. And I’d like something good to come out of it.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">A couple of weeks ago, I died three times.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">You heard correctly. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">On April 30th I was playing pickleball with a group of friends (no jokes, please—it really is a great sport). In between games, I suddenly felt very lightheaded and knew I had to sit. I got to a chair and then—lights out.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The next thing I remember was a bunch of out-of-focus people hovering over me trying, oddly, to hurt me. I thought it was just an unpleasant dream, but as I gained lucidity I recognized some to be my friends—but also EMTs. The question was, why were <i>they</i> here and why was everyone just standing around? They carried me off to their van. Okay, fine, I guess that's the protocol if you faint. But why were people clapping? This was embarrassing. No applause for fainting, please. </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Little did I know.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This is what happened during my "interlude," as told to me later...</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I sat down while my friend Daryl continued to talk. I then turned my head away and appeared to be snoring. Daryl thought I was not-so-subtly indicating my lack of interest in the conversation. While that certainly may have been the case under other circumstances, he and others were alert enough to know something was wrong, and they got me on the ground.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Our pickle group had about twenty people. Incredibly, three knew CPR. They went to work, giving compressions and mouth-to-mouth. Also incredibly, there was a defibrillator (AED) nearby and someone knew where to find it.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">They got it quickly and used it. It worked. My heart and lungs started functioning again. I owe a lifetime of thanks to those friends.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It wasn't a heart attack; it was full cardiac arrest. I don't know how long I flatlined, perhaps a minute or two. (Sad to report no tunnels of light or dead relatives—I suspect they were dismissive of me arriving so soon.) It took the EMTs fifteen minutes to arrive and my pickleball buddies kept me alive until they did.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">There were others kind enough to ride with me to the hospital or to grab stuff from my house. By the time I was in the ambulance I was completely coherent. The team at UVA Hospital said they'd never seen anyone's numbers look so good after an “external arrest” like that.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">My wife was on a girls' trip to Jordan. I knew that just then she was boarding a twelve-hour flight home. I didn't want her to be miserable and helpless for all that, but someone, someone perhaps thinking more clearly than I, let the cat out of the bag.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But this was far from over. Always inclined towards overachievement (many would differ), and in spite my awesome oxygen numbers, etc., I decided to flatline twice more at the hospital. CPR was administered, twice more. The image at the top is from one of those episodes, not sure which.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The thing about CPR is, if you're doing it right, you're likely to break ribs. If you're doing it three times, you're <i>really</i> breaking ribs. That has turned out to be the most painful part of this for me but I'm grateful for each and every one of them. Thirteen, to be precise.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In between flatlines 2 and 3, a nurse told me that out-of-hospital cardiac arrests have a one percent survival rate. My wife thinks this should freak me out and, sure, if you'd told me at the beginning of the day that I had a one percent chance of making it to midnight, I'd lay some full Rick James on you. But I was on the far side of the gauntlet.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A doctor the next day said, "You know, you died three times last night."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Funny guy. You can catch him evenings at the Paramount. He'll be there all week.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">On May 3rd, I had a triple bypass, in which I added a sawed-open sternum to my skeletal travails, but I didn't know that till the 4th, when I finally woke up. Surely, the date on my white board was wrong! This fact, combined with a vague memory of fighting off the surgeons and being restrained, left me lying there thinking something had gone terribly wrong.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In fact, the surgery had gone off without a hitch. I guess they'd been intubating me, I sort of woke up, and I wasn't pleased. Seems like they could have left a sticky, though. <i>Went well, get some sleep.</i></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The 4th was my birthday, and despite the fact it was bereft of margaritas, or even those waiters at Appleby's that come out and sing, I can unequivocally say it was my best birthday ever.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The days following were not awesome. There were the pharmaceuticals: oxy, ketamine, fentanyl, even an epidural. All the bad boys. While this might seem like a potentially fun ride through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it wasn't. It felt like Honey Boo Boo had taken up residence squarely on my chest. With every breath my ribs clicked like a broken marimba. I ate nothing but gained 20 pounds of IV fluid. Sometimes I would stare at the wall, hoping that the ICU cacophony of beeps and buzzers would meld into a susurrus of white noise that might bring sleep. Other times I’d stare at the inside of my eyelids as pain would come and go. My wife was there all the time and a rock. Pretty sure I wasn’t great company.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">One thing to know if you spend some time in an ICU is that you will climb a long ladder of indignities. Icky stuff. (We will now pause to acknowledge your gratitude for sparing you these details, however tempting that might be.)</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">….</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The staff was amazing, particularly the nurses. It's amazing what percentage of your healthcare they deliver. It's a tough job with the worst customers in the world. I am awed how they go about their work with such grace and cheer.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">A permanent defibrillator was implanted in my chest. It's an amazing device, about the size of a half dollar. It can sit there for ten years, doing nothing, and then go off when needed. I'm also feeling better, better enough to write.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">So, to the main point: I was saved by friends who knew CPR. Go take a CPR class. Seriously, GO TAKE A CPR CLASS. You don't want to be fumbling around like an idiot if you face a situation like this.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Coincidentally, my wife and I took one less than a month ago. </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">One last thing, and I debated whether to share this as maybe it’s a bit macabre, but I think some will find reassurance in it. While there are many painful things that can lead up to one’s death, the actual act itself is painless, a whisper.</p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #3e003f; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I speak from experience.</p></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-15402165637470807542022-11-28T07:18:00.015-08:002023-03-08T06:49:43.382-08:00New Novel<p><span style="font-size: large;">Been asked why the Naked Dollar hasn't been posting lately. The reason is I've been busy working on novel #2. (Campusland, incidentally, is being made into a TV series.) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The new novel will be called All the Lovely People. Here's a sample chapter, if you're interested:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center; text-indent: 18px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">740 Park</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">There are many wealthy neighborhoods in New York City. In recent decades, neighborhoods once unknown and untraveled by the monied classes, neighborhoods like Tribeca and Nolita, were now the province of internet barons and oligarchs alike. Even Brooklyn, its vast neighborhoods once home to New York’s aspiring immigrant classes, was now beyond the financial reach of the vast majority of Americans.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, for a certain sort, the Upper East Side of Manhattan was still the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of discerning <i>domicilia</i>. No, not those soulless canyons of young professionals near the river, but rather the stately neighborhoods adjacent to Central Park, the ones home to pre-war cooperatives, their scalloped awnings having protected generations of wealthy from the elements while alighting from their cabs.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The East Side was home to more “dilatory domiciles” than any other—this, of course, being the phrase long used by the Social Register to describe the homes of the “right sort” within its pages.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fifth Avenue was stunning, certainly, with its views over the park, the apartments of West Side strivers visible in the distance. But nothing quite had the resonance of “Park Avenue,” did it? For at least a century it had been synonymous with genteel wealth.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">It wasn’t always. Prior to the 1870s, the avenue was a filthy place, with the soot-spewing cars of the New York and Harlem Railroad traveling up and down its length. In a stroke of genius, Cornelius Vanderbilt proposed lowering the tracks into a cut, which would then be covered by a park and pedestrian traffic. This new development was an immediate draw for Gilded Age money, which lined the avenue with mansions. Later, room was made for a new invention, the automobile, and a narrower, be-flowered median remained up the center.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the Roaring Twenties, the elevator changed urban living, and mansions yielded to apartment buildings. Park Avenue became lined with classical-style apartments, virtually all fifteen stories tall. Period fire codes limited all residential buildings to 150 feet, owning to the difficulty of fighting an elevated blaze. Thus every building was exactly 150 feet, or fifteen stories. </span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1927, the Municipal Dwelling Act allowed new structures to exceed 150 feet, but only if the higher stories were set back. A few new apartments, designed with graceful setbacks, were built to take advantage of the new law.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of these was 740, which, of all the apartment dwellings on Park, surely had the grandest reputation. 740 lay on the avenue's west side, stretching from 71<span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>st</sup></span> to 72<span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><sup>nd</sup></span> streets. One of its first residents was John D. Rockefeller Jr., who lived in a duplex there until his death in 1960. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, nee Bouvier, lived there as a child. More recently, billionaires like David Koch, Woody Johnson, and Ron Perelman have called 740 home.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">None of this history was known to the Sandersons, and nor did they live in 740. They lived at 580, a few blocks south, in a “classic six.” It was more entry-level Park Avenue, something they bought when William first made junior partner. A well-respected building, to be sure, but they’d been pondering an upgrade for several years, and now, with the news of Williams promotion, it seemed all but obligatory. Despite William’s prodigious earnings, 740 was not in reach, even if something had been available. They had an accepted bid on a four bedroom at 895, an excellent address. At $12 million, it was a serious upgrade. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">As an added bonus, 895 was much closer to the Lenox Hill School, the kids’<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>sixty-thousand dollar a year school. Close enough that the kids could walk.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Sandersons took a cab. It was only eight blocks, but it was slightly humid out and it wouldn’t do to arrive sweaty. They announced themselves to the doorman who discreetly checked a list and then pointed them to an elevator, one of the last in Manhattan that had its own elevator men, dressed improbably, as if British field officers ready to lead the men once more into the breach.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The apartment that they were heading up to, one where the elevator opened right up into the foyer because it was the only one on the floor, belonged to Casper Stein, the founder and CEO of Bedrock Capital, the largest money manger in the world. The Sandersons were the guests of honor, because William had just been appointed head of Sustainable Investing, Bedrock’s fastest growing division. Could a spot on the Executive Committee and Board be far behind?</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The money at this level was breathtaking. William’s base was now $1.2 million, but that was an afterthought, really. Bonuses and profit sharing would typically be in low the tens of millions in a good year, plus there were options that might be worth a fortune in a few years. Bedrock’s stock price had been on a one-way trajectory for years.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Just before the elevator opened, Edie elbowed William in the ribs. “Yabba dabba do!” she whispered, giggling. She liked to kid William about the name of his firm, particularly when he got too self-serious.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Not <i>now</i>,” he said, under his breath, just as the elevator door opened.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was the Sandersons' first time in the Stein apartment, a vast duplex. They knew better than to to gape at the exquisite furnishings, the art, and, more than anything, at 13,000 square feet, the sheer scale. An understated compliment or two would be all that was expected, less one appear arriviste.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Here they are!” cried Missy Stein in a sing song voice. She glided down the staircase from the second floor and gave both Sandersons three kisses, alternating cheeks in the European style. “So good of you to come,” she cooed, as if the Sandersons might have done anything else.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Casper Stein followed his wife and settled for one cheek and then shook William’s hand. Stein had the imposing presence of that anyone seemed to have who was worth $8 billion. Tonight he wore a double-breasted blazer over a Paul Stewart shirt, open at the neck. William always had to force himself not to stare at Casper’s hair, which stood, immovable, on top of his head like a shrub. He knew the junior people at Bedrock would joke about what it might take to move Casper Stein’s hair. An earthquake? A tropical storm? It also had a perfectly uniform color, clearly the result of outside agents. Auburn? No, not quite. Burnt umber, perhaps. It was not, all agreed, a good look, but Missy Stein was the only person on the planet who could conceivably tell him that, and if she had, it hadn’t worked.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“So good to see you both,” he said. “Come in and meet everybody.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Casper Stein suggested they all go see their latest art acquisition, a Basquiat. “Bring your drinks,” he said.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Oh, Casper, I’m sure people don’t care!”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Well, I’d <i>love</i> to see it,” said Edie.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“You know,” continued Missy, “Casper jokes he’s made more money on his collection than on Wall Street!”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It just might be true,” said Casper, laughing.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Following the Steins, the group walked through the living room and into a study. It was a darker, masculine room with textured chocolate brown lacquered paint that looked like it had been applied with sponges rather than brushes, a technique, William knew, was time consuming and expensive. The fireplace was stoked and burning, despite the relatively warm fall weather outside. Its flames danced and the wood snapped pleasingly. The bookshelves, stretching high enough to require a ladder, were lined with biographies and historical non-fiction. William removed a random volume and pretended to study it. It was “Understanding the British Empire,” by Ronald Hyam. It looked unread.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Over the mantle was the Basquiat. It was a face, or perhaps an African mask, rendered abstractly in vivid colors.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Missy thought the reds and browns picked up the walls of the study, so she said we had to have it,” said Casper.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">William knew enough about art to know the painting probably cost in the many tens of millions, but he had to admit, it was striking, if a bit angry looking. Perhaps that was the point.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“You know,” continued Casper, “Basquiat sold his first painting to Deborah Harry—Blondie, remember? Two hundred dollars. If she still has it it’s worth a hundred times whatever she made selling records. They say artists of color are the best investment right now, but I just buy what I like. If it goes down in value, I can still enjoy it on my wall.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">William wondered if Casper Stein had ever bought anything that had gone down in value.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The group moved closer to the prized Basquiat, leaning in and squinting their eyes ever-so-slightly, making sure that the Steins knew their new acquisition was properly appreciated. Casper took the opportunity to touch William by the elbow. “Might I have a quick word in the other room?”</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 20px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">They repaired to an empty bedroom, which William thought was exceedingly odd, and put him on edge. Casper took out two cigars and offered one to William.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“No thanks, Edie would kill me.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“This is the only room in which Missy allows me to indulge,” said Casper, putting one cigar back in his blazer and and then lighting his own. He puffed a few times to draw the match’s flame, clearly enjoying the ritual.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“This is a spectacular apartment, Casper,” William said, looking to fill the silence. “And what a building. You must be very happy here.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, well, it’s been a good home, but none of the new money wants to live in a co-op anymore. Too many restrictions, no one wants the hassle of going through a board. It’s all LLCs now.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I find that hard to believe.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Believe it. The layouts don’t work for people, either. The sequestered kitchens and maids quarters—it’s just not how people live anymore. They want lofts downtown somewhere, ones with private gyms and Pilates trainers.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The conversation paused as Casper took another long draw on his cigar. William wished he had something to occupy his hands, having left his cocktail glass back in study. He thought about asking for that cigar after all, but finally Casper broke the silence.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“You’re close with Cy Birdwell, aren’t you?” he asked.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Birdwell was one of Bedrock’s outside board members.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, very. We went to school together.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yale.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“And boarding school,” William added.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Ah, I didn’t realize. Good good. But you’re close”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, Cy’s a great guy. What’s this about, Casper?”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Well, it’s a bit awkward, and I thought, given your long relationship, you might be able to help with something, something that happens to be very relevant to you.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Of course,” replied William, now burning with curiosity.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“As you know,” continued Casper, “we like to think of ourselves as a firm which embraces the right values. That’s why we call them <i>Bedrock Values</i>. We don’t shy away from doing the right thing—ever. Happily for us, doing the right thing also happens to be quite profitable.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I came to Bedrock for those values, Casper. I had a lot of options.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I know you did, William. You’ve always been one to stand up for what’s right, which is why I need a favor.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Of course. Name it.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“We just got an RFP.” Casper let it hang there.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“We get those all the time.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“This one’s from <i>CalPERS</i>. It will be on your desk Monday.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">CalPERS stood for the California Public Employee Retirement System. They managed the retirement money for 1.5 million state employees. With half a trillion in assets, they represented one of the biggest pots of of money in the world. An RFP was a “Request for Proposal,” meaning Bedrock was being invited to compete for some portion of that half trillion.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“It’s a $5 billion ESG mandate,” added Casper.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">ESG stood for “Environmental, Social, and Governance.” It was type of investing that weighed societal factors like the climate crisis when making investment decisions. It was something Bedrock fully embraced and fell under William’s new area of responsibility, Sustainable Investing. The mandate would be a huge coup for both the firm and himself.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“As you know,” continued Casper, “CalPERS is one of the few big pension funds that has eluded our grasp. Our institutions are both progressively-minded, so I believe our values are aligned, but we’ve never quite crossed the finish line. I <i>want </i>this.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“What does this have to do with Cy?” asked William.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“So here’s the thing…the RFP. There are diversity questions.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“That should be good for us!” said William.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, normally, one would think,” said Casper.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Indeed, Bedrock had the first Wall Street firm to have a full-time Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion director and had aggressively hired African-Americans and women for years. Their board had four women members, two of whom were black, and one other black male member as well. One of the women came to board meetings in a Kente cloth. They even had a Muslim, who flew in from Qatar once a quarter.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“But this one asks specifically about <i>LGBTQ</i> board members,” said Casper.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was dawning on William why they were having this clandestine conversation. “This is why you wanted to talk about Cy…” he said.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes. Cy <i>is</i> gay, is he not? I mean, we all just assumed…”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cy Birdwell was the founder and CEO of Birdwell Apparel, a multi-billion dollar clothing company, and it was widely understood that he was gay. But Cy never talked about it. If he had relationships with other men, it wasn’t public. Nor, thought William, did Cy “act” gay, a thought for which he immediately admonished himself. Of <i>course</i> there was no one way for a gay man to act! Although, he did dress awfully well…</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Honestly,” replied William, “I’m the same as you. I’ve known Cy since sophomore year at Andover, and I’ve never known him to date a woman, but I can’t say I’ve seen him with a man, either. Wonderful guy, though.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“The best!” agreed Casper. “And a valued member of the board.” Casper drained the last bit of his drink. “So, you see there’s a box we need to check if we’re going to win this mandate.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“You need to confirm that Cy is gay,” said William.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Yes, or at least one of those letters. I believe the RFP says LGBTQ <i>plus</i>, so there’s a lot of room in there. Maybe he’s just <i>a</i>sexual. That falls under ‘plus,’ doesn’t it?”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“I confess I’m a little hazy on the ‘plus’ part,” said William. “Maybe we could Google it.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“Yes, but regardless, since this RFP falls to your group, and since you have a long history with Cy…”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">William swallowed. “<i>I </i>need to confirm Cy is gay. Or…plus.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Precisely.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">William paused, considering the implications. “But what if Cy is staying in the closet for a reason? I think some people still do that, don't they?”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Casper took another draw of his cigar. Exhaling, the air filled with purple smoke. “We think you’re Executive Committee material, as you know. After all, you’re now running our fastest growing department.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Careful not to let his expression change, William let the words flow through him like manna. By <i>we</i>, William knew Casper meant <i>I</i>. Casper was king of all he surveyed at Bedrock. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to wonder what units in 740 might become available in a few years time. To hell with Pilates.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">But there <i>had</i> to be some other way to get this done. He was about to say as much when Casper pointed his cigar at William and took a decidedly firmer tone. “But people at that level, they <i>get things done,</i> William. I want that business, and I won’t let some goddamn box we have to check on some goddamn form screw things up. If they want to know who we’re fucking, we’re going to tell them who we’re fucking. Is that understood?”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">William was taken aback, and maybe a little upset, but made sure to not let it show. “Yes, of course.”</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Palatino; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Get it done,” said Casper Stein.</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-31844025592733547902022-09-04T06:57:00.001-07:002022-09-05T04:21:05.888-07:00Insanity at the Trinity School<p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitarvIpm1uSo2MaoYVSK5KNOly8d0SY4weWam6OLwuHhPGNfnG28j12ELaETQUIo0JC8OgNSLqY7bdIU6M1WjuBA6tKnMCdry1vkBc_nTLugrapEK2rPcirlg8T5g3krqfGTdzknuJdXwMF_4wscLMS4jmNoGadk0zjTxt5W1SK_ZPbGNkE8dFNJ9dag" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="148" data-original-width="339" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitarvIpm1uSo2MaoYVSK5KNOly8d0SY4weWam6OLwuHhPGNfnG28j12ELaETQUIo0JC8OgNSLqY7bdIU6M1WjuBA6tKnMCdry1vkBc_nTLugrapEK2rPcirlg8T5g3krqfGTdzknuJdXwMF_4wscLMS4jmNoGadk0zjTxt5W1SK_ZPbGNkE8dFNJ9dag=w468-h205" width="468" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Note: In this piece, I mistakenly reported the Cos Cob Elementary School in Greenwich as the Greenwich Country Day School. This has been corrected.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A year ago, having obtained some internal communications, I <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/06/next-up-trinity-school.html">wrote</a> about Trinity's full embrace of CRT and "anti-racism" (which is nothing more than reverse racism). The school had recently created an anti-racism task force with, get this, 188 members and 11 working groups.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Is anyone now surprised at what has transpired over the last few days?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Just in case you weren't paying attention, the folks at Project Veritas, who work under cover, <a href="https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-project-veritas-exposes-nyc-private-school-teacher-turning-students-into-activists">exposed</a> the rampant biases of an administrator at Trinity named Jennifer Norris.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Sporting a nose ring, Norris openly bragged about promoting a left-wing agenda to her elementary-level students, vowed to never let Republican speakers on campus, and railed against all those "horrible" white boys.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">My favorite part was where she fantasized about a "Dexter-like" character coming along and dealing with those wretched white boys once and for all.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Dexter is a serial killer on a television show.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGAd-CZV3Qww67loNMbx23sKjIL31ikYeUdm8oAtY1pM3AEvjrTJ9L_mC6T4nIBsV9HDyxyxYln1M4vjLT2qqf94lcC2MUcw0RF9cekojan1AgaHjXtjiQTeOVcRU4xC5UwI9-6LoKJrmCAU2y8q1vnpZ9mQNWWi3Bhm-vzIw_kwKHqTxlo3I6VYZ0mg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="802" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGAd-CZV3Qww67loNMbx23sKjIL31ikYeUdm8oAtY1pM3AEvjrTJ9L_mC6T4nIBsV9HDyxyxYln1M4vjLT2qqf94lcC2MUcw0RF9cekojan1AgaHjXtjiQTeOVcRU4xC5UwI9-6LoKJrmCAU2y8q1vnpZ9mQNWWi3Bhm-vzIw_kwKHqTxlo3I6VYZ0mg=w414-h233" width="414" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dexter</span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">All this comes on the heals of the <a href="https://www.theday.com/state/20220901/greenwich-wants-investigation-after-video-suggests-discrimination-in-town-against-catholics-conserv/">revelations</a> about the Cos Cob Elementary School in Greenwich, where an administrator crowed about never hiring "Republicans or Catholics."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">If you're interested, Trinity sent out a letter to its community, which is reprinted at the bottom. They seem more upset about how the revelations came about more than the revelations themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the thing: <i>none of this is a surprise</i>. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Have you ever looked at Libs of Tik Tok on Twitter? They all seem to be teachers. The kind of rampant bias and hatred of conservatives displayed at Trinity and Cos Cob are everywhere in our schools, private and public. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Progressives have always been disproportionately drawn to education, perhaps because education represents the opportunity for maximum cultural leverage. Brainwashing countless kids advances the revolution faster than, say, being an accountant at Price Waterhouse.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">On an unfortunate note, the Naked Dollar can also reveal that Trinity has received an anonymous threat from someone to show up and "shoot any teacher they may find." This is highly disturbing, and nothing justifies even a threat of violence.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I hope the threat is a hoax and they find the person behind it.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">Dear Members of the Trinity School Community,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">Regrettably, Trinity School and Upper School Director of Student Activities Ginn Norris have become the focus of media attention as the result of video recordings of Ms. Norris that were made without her knowledge or permission by someone who misrepresented himself. While the circumstances surrounding the recordings are deeply disturbing, and we are profoundly troubled by the reprehensible way Ms. Norris and our school community were targeted, we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness. Importantly, the sentiments expressed in the video do not reflect the mission or values of Trinity School.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">Accordingly, the School is retaining outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation. Ms. Norris will be placed on paid leave while this investigation is underway. As part of this process, in conjunction with the work of our outside advisors, we will also review school protocols and practices that are in place to ensure that we are living up to our determination to build a more inclusive community.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">This is a profoundly difficult moment, but we remain determined to model our conduct on our inspiring mission and the ideals of respect, belonging, and open inquiry that are embedded in it. Most recently, a letter sent to families just this Wednesday offered fresh language to express our core values: We care for one another. We listen and learn. We seek and speak the truth. We serve the common good. Every member of the Trinity School community knows these words speak straight to the heart of our daily efforts and aspirations, and it is important to remind ourselves, over and over again, that our community stands for and strives to live up to higher ideals — love, respect, and inclusion.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">When the investigation is completed, we will communicate further with our community. We appreciate your patience and support while this work is underway.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">Sincerely,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">John Allman, Head of School</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica;">David Perez, President of the Board of Trustees</span></span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-81943963289214323582022-08-22T08:06:00.000-07:002022-08-22T08:06:14.014-07:00Why Donald Trump Should Not Be Our Nominee<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: -0.56px;"><i></i></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKLXHCfMm0NqGXHOFRQvtR-MAQk6H_jbqaKHgJ_e5-3GCluBaaOR4ylYLnIcfrhoznf2wrDedh10F3vPtCVit8Ze_k1iFNObYvd_ZBrC298AfYbMLEmv7XX5SzUstF4ALEtsP63fq1_MwylrEpnb2uC7alMQxfvAHg2Mclk9FNmk6wbJKgtOVbFN9gKg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="1280" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKLXHCfMm0NqGXHOFRQvtR-MAQk6H_jbqaKHgJ_e5-3GCluBaaOR4ylYLnIcfrhoznf2wrDedh10F3vPtCVit8Ze_k1iFNObYvd_ZBrC298AfYbMLEmv7XX5SzUstF4ALEtsP63fq1_MwylrEpnb2uC7alMQxfvAHg2Mclk9FNmk6wbJKgtOVbFN9gKg=w418-h179" width="418" /></a></i></span></div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.56px;">Note: This piece originally ran in the Daily Caller on Sunday,, August 22nd.</i><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px;">Let’s get this part out of the way: former President Donald Trump’s policies were effective. He had this country in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px;"> </span><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/economy-jobs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-text-opacity: 1; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">great shape on any level you can measure</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px;">, at</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px;"> least until COVID-19 came along, something that can’t be blamed on him.</span></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; background-color: white; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I personally defended him and actively promoted his re-election — but he absolutely cannot be the Republican nominee again. </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.56px;">Here are the reasons:</span></p><ol style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; background-color: white; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1rem;"><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Trump would turn 80 during his term. While he does not currently appear to be in cognitive decline, who knows about a few years from now? And he’s not exactly in great physical shape, either.</span></li><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He will be a lame duck on day one. The 22nd Amendment will prohibit his re-election. Realistically, he will have only a year or so to get anything done. Is this seriously the scenario Republicans want? An octogenarian lame duck? We have one of those now, effectively.</span></li><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Given the circus-like, perpetually chaotic atmosphere that Trump seems almost to promote, what senior people would be willing to serve in his administration? Add to that the fear of almost immediately attracting the attention of our weaponized justice system, and you have a recipe for a cabinet full of third-string draft choices and attention-seekers.</span></li><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He has no political discipline and makes too many unforced errors. It’s tough enough for any Republican when the media and the entire Washington establishment are aligned against you. Why give them grist for their mill? I fully appreciate that Trump’s bumptious and combative nature sometimes served him well when doing battle with the press room, but engaging with Rosie O’Donnell? C’mon.</span></li><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Trump’s lack of discipline extends to his personal life. While most of the attacks on him were blatant fabrications, he’s just not what one would call a paragon of character, either. I and many others were willing to grin and bear these flaws for the sake of outstanding policy, but America deserves a president who brings both policy <em style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">and </em>character to the job.</span></li><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I fully believe Trump ran the first two times to be of service to his country, particularly the working class. Ego played a large role, but his commitment to country was sincere. This time, I’m not so sure. He seems more motivated to avenge what he believes happened in the last election than anything else. And yes, a lot of bad stuff went down, but that’s not what I want motivating my party’s candidate. Time to look forward, not back.</span></li><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We might lose. Yes, Trump brought a lot of new voters to the polls, particularly working class whites. But he also motivates the other side like no one in history. Right now, Democrats are dispirited and functionally leaderless. That changes overnight if Trump is the nominee.</span></li><li style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We have other great candidates! Unlike the Democrats, the GOP has a deep bench. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is the obvious choice. He has all of Trump’s good qualities — the policies, the combativeness — but he also has both personal and political discipline. And there are others: Sens. Tom Cotton, Tim Scott and Josh Hawley all come to mind. These are all serious people with conviction, experience and character.</span></li></ol><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; background-color: white; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; letter-spacing: -0.56px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There’s risk, of course. A bloody primary may hurt the GOP’s chances in the general. But this is a chance we must take. It’s time to thank Trump for his service and move on.</span></p><div><br /></div><div id="outbrainPlaceholder" style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; background-color: white; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 22.4px; letter-spacing: -0.56px;"></div><div class="readmore" style="--tw-ring-color: rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5); --tw-ring-inset: var(--tw-empty, ); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; background-color: white; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Spectral, serif; font-size: 22.4px; letter-spacing: -0.56px;"></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-9127762203785576462022-07-26T08:12:00.001-07:002022-07-26T08:13:02.539-07:00Birth of a New Demographic - the Boiling Frog Liberal<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqMbS20VbuLReTQYI399K0P92QOy3F4CqAdwPfvnvH9DNwy5XfsewLpJepWR_nKy5efvR7RH1Y6PbgBNAELM_8R-LA1CllkFJ1uANQpyotj3EFugpYUgiJsN0KiTLMFvPVQ8Aey4oo1cqC1lHm9B4ECkm50xLz53idVI1V56Ma8jHxGqtMU7AsEKp_Bw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="246" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqMbS20VbuLReTQYI399K0P92QOy3F4CqAdwPfvnvH9DNwy5XfsewLpJepWR_nKy5efvR7RH1Y6PbgBNAELM_8R-LA1CllkFJ1uANQpyotj3EFugpYUgiJsN0KiTLMFvPVQ8Aey4oo1cqC1lHm9B4ECkm50xLz53idVI1V56Ma8jHxGqtMU7AsEKp_Bw=w302-h372" width="302" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Remember the old story about a frog in a pot of gradually warming water that never quite figures out it's getting dangerously hot? Many on today's traditional left are those frogs, except in this metaphor, culture is the warming water. For years scores of reliable Democrats have accepted the gradual cultural radicalization of what it means to be liberal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Except someone just threw them a thermometer. </p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">For as long as I can remember, there have been just two political dimensions through which Americans viewed their politics: economic and social. Conservatives focused more on economics, favoring low taxes and fiscal probity. Liberals were animated by social issues such as abortion and gay rights. Our two parties neatly reflected this divide (although there were always some who self-described as "economically conservative and socially liberal" ).</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">But there's a third, rapidly growing, dimension: culture. And it's this new dimension that has unmoored an enormous block of voters. These are the socially liberal and culturally conservative. We'll call them Boiling Frog Liberals, or "BoFros" for short. </p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">BoFros tend to be older, and tend to favor traditional liberal values such as free speech, equal treatment under the law, etc. They are <i>very</i> pro abortion and gay rights. But there are new cultural winds that have left BoFros in an unbalanced state, their political identities in doubt. Really, it's more of a hurricane.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">How are cultural issues different from social issues? This is something the average sociologist could bore you to tears about, and, to be sure, there's overlap between the two concepts. But keeping to a political context, social issues have traditionally meant specific hot buttons like abortion rights and gay marriage. Hot buttons that our legislators vote on and our courts adjudicate.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Cultural issues, on the other hand, emanate outward from our institutions, most notably our universities, media, entertainment and tech. They inform how we relate to each other and treat each other on a broad level. Our culture changes when the collective output of these institutions changes. </p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The most powerful cultural movement in America right now—a religion, really—is wokeism, and it is rewriting the rules at a torrid pace. Even the woke minions of Silicon Valley can't keep up. Facebook reached 71 gender options ("<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7438222975913037031/912776220378557646#"><span class="s1" style="color: #103cc0;">Objectum-sexuals</span></a>," anyone?) before they threw up their hands and offered a simple "custom" button. </p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Have at it, invent your own. Lots of people do.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">In case <i>you're</i> catching up, movement scolds demand that we view everything and everyone through the lens of race, gender, and class. These are your defining characteristics, to the exclusion of everything else. Which specific race or gender you possess, and which class you inhabit, are the sole determinants of how you are treated. </p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Woke deconstructionists also insist objective truth does not exist, truth merely being a construct of whoever holds the power. And yes, offending speech is considered violence, as a Berkeley professor <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7438222975913037031/912776220378557646#"><span class="s1" style="color: #103cc0;">chided</span></a> Josh Hawley last week.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Needless to say, much of this should be antithetical to traditional liberals, and actually <i>is</i> antithetical to those of a certain age. As one dyed-in-the-wool liberal friend of mine put it, "Sometimes I wake up and think, gee, is <i>that </i>what we're supposed to believe today?"</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhd8NJ-fub-ayD28ZRG9s2IrYog3V882xvCDZSOx488vms76_Y7ImAUf9c2qwxghihLbq1vdT9apYDBUrcT7Doxpgj1oJLy8OWSQ650RnWV0f56Y3rLgJqf26LG1J6nA1ytAYKNzUjCZqW0MVpj1k5akdw6SHhvazKyNQRMB__-Q9WVYYEk5q2P3GfXpQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="338" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhd8NJ-fub-ayD28ZRG9s2IrYog3V882xvCDZSOx488vms76_Y7ImAUf9c2qwxghihLbq1vdT9apYDBUrcT7Doxpgj1oJLy8OWSQ650RnWV0f56Y3rLgJqf26LG1J6nA1ytAYKNzUjCZqW0MVpj1k5akdw6SHhvazKyNQRMB__-Q9WVYYEk5q2P3GfXpQ=w218-h284" width="218" /></a></div><br /><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Think of poor J.K. Rowling, a vocal lefty, now enemy #1 in the trans-woke community for daring, in the name of feminism, to cling to the wrongthink notion that there are biological differences between the sexes. (She and other liberals like Martina Navratilova have spoken up publicly against the idea that men can simply decide they are women and then compete in women's sports.)</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKkRbKV_dGhoqx4Gqt17zPVJdxYwlKwLe3hUPWaXEjfS7fRC4rLll85z1nOsyptFhUaLuG2vPxwsI7tvalMZuw-PxU4vIFrI6mX8vFv29JQL1zqZYBQtb6-tuLCbhM3ZJK8WcFjbrd6ZyeVofQhJYKUTGvWhMmLdav96zpqfJI2wPU657apB0dnjr-rQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="674" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKkRbKV_dGhoqx4Gqt17zPVJdxYwlKwLe3hUPWaXEjfS7fRC4rLll85z1nOsyptFhUaLuG2vPxwsI7tvalMZuw-PxU4vIFrI6mX8vFv29JQL1zqZYBQtb6-tuLCbhM3ZJK8WcFjbrd6ZyeVofQhJYKUTGvWhMmLdav96zpqfJI2wPU657apB0dnjr-rQ=w367-h241" width="367" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Or consider the "scandal" surrounding the 2020 novel "American Dirt," the story of a Mexican single mother trying to make her way across the border to save herself from the murderous cartels who killed her journalist husband. A good liberal theme, no? Perhaps, except that the author, Jeanine Cummins, is a white American. It's not her story to tell!</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Particularly interesting was the internecine struggle at Macmillan, the publisher. (Full disclosure: they are also the publisher of my own novel, Campusland.) Reportedly, virtually everyone under the age of 35 (or so) opposed publication. The older folks, thankfully still in charge, said, "Without cultural appropriation we wouldn't have fusion cuisine or the Rolling Stones!"</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The publishing industry is famously liberal, so the episode perfectly captures this sudden cultural rupture on the left. It is a largely generational one. And yes, the older folks may still be in charge, but they find it increasingly difficult to resist the pressure of their younger, perpetually offended colleagues. </p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Joe Biden may be the perfect distillation of this, although in his case, one of capitulation. As he and his party become the servant of the woke with embassies flying BLM flags and executive orders for "<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7438222975913037031/912776220378557646#"><span class="s1" style="color: #103cc0;">gender affirming healthcare</span></a>," the BoFros find themselves politically homeless. </p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Older BoFros, in particular, cut their teeth marching for free speech at Berkeley and Columbia. Now they're told speech is violence. They idolized MLK, but now they're told race is all that matters, and MLK is growing suspect. Character is but a construct of white supremacy. Keep up!</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">The cognitive dissonance must be overwhelming. And while voting Republican cuts against the very fiber of a BoFro's being—the GOP is anti-Roe!—it's starting to happen. In blue Virginia, scores of moms in the DC suburbs who voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden a mere twelve months earlier, were aghast at woke initiatives pursued after the Summer of George. The embrace of CRT, equality of results, trans mania—it was poisoning their <i>kids</i>. After years of ignoring the warming water, someone tossed them a thermometer. So, they did something unthinkable just a year before: they elected a Republican, Glenn Youngkin, whose entire campaign was premised on pushing back. How difficult pulling that lever must have been. It will be much easier the next time.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Minorities are also joining the ranks of the BoFros, as they discover their values don't align with gender studies professors at Yale. Asian-Americans, traditionally very Democratic, ousted several woke school board members in San Francisco who were more interested in renaming schools than educating kids. Hispanics are now equally divided between the parties, according to a recent New York Times <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7438222975913037031/912776220378557646#"><span class="s1" style="color: #103cc0;">poll</span></a>. In the 2018 midterms, Hispanics favored Democrats by <i>48 points</i>. Let that sink in.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">So this is where we are, a fast-growing political class is both socially liberal <i>and</i> culturally conservative. Is it too early to call this a realignment? I don't think so, and the reality of it hasn't sunk in with the panjandrums in the Democrat elite. For the moment, this gives the Republicans the upper hand because the BoFros come entirely from the other party, driven into GOP hands by the orgiastic excesses of woke culture. No equivalent rift exists on the Republican side. How deep an inroad the GOP can make depends mostly on how long the AOCs and faculty lounge utopians can hold the Democrats' reins.</p><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Right now, it looks to be a long time.</p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-38765560086112369332022-06-08T05:57:00.003-07:002022-06-08T14:42:40.463-07:00What Is the Left's Endgame?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvSCepeXARr1uWnDfPhtNI2Va8hwLe_bbL0gtpLkSiVCeIQzAvtymtK8SASsLAwX1m2p0OFopdty5ZT8y-QVDCaDhfdnmLNVHhyUObOk5Ck8a59twv3PD5jQ6UEtfRV-K8WFyuJVj-kg_8IVLsk1K3e2VK1jGj1jSQyU8uNb9COCQsQUt1NrNhHtF3oA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="650" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvSCepeXARr1uWnDfPhtNI2Va8hwLe_bbL0gtpLkSiVCeIQzAvtymtK8SASsLAwX1m2p0OFopdty5ZT8y-QVDCaDhfdnmLNVHhyUObOk5Ck8a59twv3PD5jQ6UEtfRV-K8WFyuJVj-kg_8IVLsk1K3e2VK1jGj1jSQyU8uNb9COCQsQUt1NrNhHtF3oA=w265-h400" width="265" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />There's a thought experiment I like to play with liberal friends, which I call King for a Day. The idea is, you are the king, you control everything. Now go ahead: what does your America look like? </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What new laws will you make (or abolish)? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What will tax rates look like? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Will we bother with a Constitution or a Supreme Court?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Would you abolish "hate speech?" The Electoral College?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Please, be specific.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It's a pleasing yet confounding game for leftists. Pleasing because they get to play out their progressive fantasies; confounding, because they discover they don't know where to stop. You see, that's the thing: progressivism has no philosophical limits. It always wants more. More government, higher taxes, more regulations...more.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">When an objective is achieved, the the goalposts are immediately moved, because they always need a <i>cause</i>, beliefs to cherish, a reason to march in the streets. </span></p><p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0dmH5qmZZL4LYGFveqZXpzqRLbK0RUBFEilbEECWRMCRzyliTNgFMdC6-M7010OVvCiS2F45kyUJW5bbAjhiWECdjfc-agZn0gb9m1zRejAFx11IP1cd6h7c7805XLaiAH-KuvM0CL3dpk-Gms3u8JomAI_TojR1aXWArwcEIITZAERkKkjamliquDQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="558" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0dmH5qmZZL4LYGFveqZXpzqRLbK0RUBFEilbEECWRMCRzyliTNgFMdC6-M7010OVvCiS2F45kyUJW5bbAjhiWECdjfc-agZn0gb9m1zRejAFx11IP1cd6h7c7805XLaiAH-KuvM0CL3dpk-Gms3u8JomAI_TojR1aXWArwcEIITZAERkKkjamliquDQ" width="302" /></a></span></div><span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>This is Inconvenient</b></div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is why the left bristles at the Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court because both are about limits, specifically limits on government, and government is always the vessel of the left's dreams of centralized control.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is quite in contrast to conservatism, which by its very definition is about limits and de-centralization.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There's a concept called "subsidiarity" which started with the Calvinists and then became a pillar of Catholic social teachings. It says that problems are best solved at the most local level possible. Have a problem? Look to your family. That doesn't get it done? What about turning to your neighbors or town? And so on. Only the very biggest problems are assigned to the state.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The idea is that problems are most efficiently solved by people or entities that are the closest to them. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is how I think about conservatism. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Contrast this to liberalism, ever voracious, yearning for centralized, top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions to complex problems. Think Obamacare.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Which brings me back to our little thought experiment, which fast-forwards the process, asking our leftist friends to consider their endgame.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But, what might that be? Is it Denmark? Cuba? Something else? At what point does the left say, "we won" and go home? This is one of the interesting questions of our time, and we will attempt to answer it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The short answer is: never.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Let's consider the evidence we have about the current state of affairs. The left...</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Seems to want anarchy. They have funded radical DAs who won't prosecute crime. They want open borders. They all but celebrated the 2020 summer of looting and rioting.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Wants to indoctrinate your children. This now happens from kindergarten all the way through college. We now have gender and race struggle sessions for third graders that would make Mao smile. As part of this, they actively drive a wedge between children and their parents. Families are treated with deep suspicion at best, the enemy at worst.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Advocates economic policies that anyone with common sense could tell you are self-destructive. This includes gutting traditional energy and printing money with abandon. </span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Has co-opted the leadership of most every large corporation, NGO, and university, bending them to their agenda. When Disney supports teaching trans ideology to second graders and Princeton declares itself systemically racist, you know the <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-new-ethno-marxism-and-how-we-got.html">Long March</a> is nearing completion.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Wants to regulate speech they don't like, recasting it as "violence." </span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Views organized religion with hostility.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Wants to make gun ownership by private citizens illegal, leaving only the state with arms.</span></li></ul><p><span><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNxhgfXsFx0MiP8arZArIbjEhiN8gzXn7OTALyd8SSKvTH7IYHO2Ayt0w5IbIlqlhR_XmEC9SKWsRFJUi9OxEuDIUAS1hGr8VoaIOhcGRAz4bJbvkD-bzfqPHfWOUOouFLCAAHOROGYf063M2UVmXmHb_A4WBJAD96RQbE5Lyw-eOe09XgRv8FWPNOBg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="340" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNxhgfXsFx0MiP8arZArIbjEhiN8gzXn7OTALyd8SSKvTH7IYHO2Ayt0w5IbIlqlhR_XmEC9SKWsRFJUi9OxEuDIUAS1hGr8VoaIOhcGRAz4bJbvkD-bzfqPHfWOUOouFLCAAHOROGYf063M2UVmXmHb_A4WBJAD96RQbE5Lyw-eOe09XgRv8FWPNOBg" width="182" /></a></b></span></div><span><b><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>What would Mao do?</b></div></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>All these are precisely the avenues a Lenin or a Mao would pursue if presented with the following assignment: turn modern America into a Marxist state.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay, I know what you're thinking. You have liberal friends, and they're not <i>Marxists</i>, for God's sake. And c'mon, man, Joe Biden isn't Pol Pot, so just shut up with your juvenile, everyone's-a-commie hyperbole.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">All these things are true, but here's where we consider an apparent contradiction. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It is true that Joe Biden, for instance, is not a Marxist, not consciously. He doesn't want to turn America into Cuba. And yet, he is very much on the side of every policy and cultural experiment that would lead us there, <i>because there</i><i> is no way they lead anywhere else</i>. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The British philosopher Roger Scruton described totalitarianism as the "absence of any constraint on central authority." What's the best way get that power?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Chaos.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Scruton also observed that revolutions don't happen from below, by the people, but rather from above, in the name of the people, by an "aspiring elite."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Any of this sound familiar? It has always been this way, starting with the Russian Revolution, because those pesky workers never seemed to revolt when they're supposed to. And now, here in America, our most radical ideas are being actively promoted by universities, corporations, and even our own government.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Communists have always embraced societal chaos, including open criminality, as a means to an end, as a way to tear down traditional, competing, institutions. People will ultimately turn to the state to be their savior. Same thing with economic chaos: the people will demand help and the state will provide it in the form of a larger state. Families and churches will be undermined at every turn because they are alternate belief systems. The state can be your only family and your only church.</span></p><p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgQhj6UhaPaDyPmOgde81KXi7xnq44vgVn3aRmKoyYb1eidpdAxQeYP91DX0o3XUD6bfDye1242YDL5s6Nxg_w_zuDPpKwnZPiqhJBFpzpIa94-NJlWpIhkJNrdDPT1CXtidcKiTgfBY4AtG1Qheig1X90T79FeckASVoJbJ4wf88qRYH1GTNZxXG87w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="676" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgQhj6UhaPaDyPmOgde81KXi7xnq44vgVn3aRmKoyYb1eidpdAxQeYP91DX0o3XUD6bfDye1242YDL5s6Nxg_w_zuDPpKwnZPiqhJBFpzpIa94-NJlWpIhkJNrdDPT1CXtidcKiTgfBY4AtG1Qheig1X90T79FeckASVoJbJ4wf88qRYH1GTNZxXG87w" width="320" /></a></span></div><span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Useful Idiot</b></div></span><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The answer to the contradiction is that Biden and most others on the left are what Stalin</span><span> called "useful idiots" The agenda is being driven by a relatively small number of true believers, and the Bidens of the world don't even begin to understand how they're being played. They drift along with wherever the center of power is, and right now that's on the hard left.</span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Starting with the election of Obama, then the ascendence of Bernie Sanders, AOC, Elizabeth Warren and others, plus the chaos of George Floyd and the money of George Soros, the Democrat Party has been subsumed to the will of these true believers. Joe Biden is their ultimate dancing bear, the most useful idiot of all.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ACCZ6DDNR-JKOHpmTEbhaFMSM1tnHl9SGUOTKaL0k9ep0Y21RMEtik2DlW1fp0rlSpJIlfmI7m-ZNCVaPIuk8MKxzCPiScwTOl3hUEEG3GdI5wRz0j44O3AvhZgr1TD0O6Pea1SjynUvGdwKjS-i5_UxndKGVkCV7zC_fzIHoU9KX7nBRPPgydLV3A/s678/squad.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="678" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ACCZ6DDNR-JKOHpmTEbhaFMSM1tnHl9SGUOTKaL0k9ep0Y21RMEtik2DlW1fp0rlSpJIlfmI7m-ZNCVaPIuk8MKxzCPiScwTOl3hUEEG3GdI5wRz0j44O3AvhZgr1TD0O6Pea1SjynUvGdwKjS-i5_UxndKGVkCV7zC_fzIHoU9KX7nBRPPgydLV3A/w355-h234/squad.png" width="355" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><b>True Believers</b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And yes, these people, these relatively few, <i>are</i> Marxists. Denmark is not the goal here. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, few actually <i>call</i> themselves Marxists, they dress themselves in more digestible language like "democratic socialist." Don't want to scare off the useful idiots, after all. But it wouldn't take more than a couple of Stoli shots to get them to admit they'd like to send people like us to re-education camps.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">These are the people calling the shots now. The <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/06/all-lovely-people.html">Lovely People</a> smile and go along, terrified of being cancelled or just too dumb to know how they're being used.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So the goal is, and always has been, centralized power. On the left, this always manifests as Marxism, and by Marxism's very nature, the struggle is never over. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The end game is that there isn't one at all beyond a never-ending pursuit of power.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We don't pass it to our children in our bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same." -Ronald Reagan</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-37493201978060059032022-04-14T06:44:00.003-07:002022-08-04T17:17:38.377-07:00ESG: The Invisible Fist<p><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 1pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Welcome Naked Dollar readers. This week we have a special guest blogger: Marlo Oaks, Treasurer of the State of Utah. Pay attention, because Marlo has something very important to say, and he is a brave man to say it. -SCJ</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-bbb908c1-7fff-1133-08b4-c1e06f7e0991" style="font-size: medium;"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 300px; overflow: hidden; width: 500px;"><img height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/SQEcab2iKgziP8cnnj2RcW4E1rg7v03csFacHCR_aOsfE8in4NBOpXemAVlHSzJF7Yi7xiEiCcwr4r6Nqu23a9Qx_G_4lpA2JXznjB0wzefTlb7rs_G6wbu9dq0yIV3qZT4IPv6j" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="500" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEI, CRT, SEL… It can be hard to keep up with the acronyms, but there’s a relatively new one you need to know: ESG. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s safe to say most Americans haven’t yet heard of ESG. It stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. I’m here to tell you what it is, and why it’s a huge problem. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pushing back against ESG should be a bipartisan effort important to all Americans because it will fundamentally alter our American system. If you take away nothing else, know this: ESG uses economic force to drive a political agenda through corporate America. As Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the largest investment manager in the world, so succinctly stated, “You have to force behaviors, and at BlackRock, we're forcing behaviors.” </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BlackRock manages $10 trillion of other people’s money. Other investment managers have trillions more. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unelected by anyone, they are using the might of other people’s capital to drive a far-left agenda.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Arguably, no one outside the Federal Government has more power, and few people outside the industry know what’s going on.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-indent: 1pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a state treasurer, I operate at the intersection of politics and capital markets, squarely where ESG resides. Many are afraid to speak out about it, but people need to understand the threat that it poses to our American system, one based on free-market capitalism and constitutional principles.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s a small tech company in my state of Utah that employs </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fewer than 75 people.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A Silicon Valley tech titan was a client. Call it Twoogle. Last year, Twoogle explained to the company that if they wanted to continue to do business with Twoogle, they would need to implement a whole range of policies. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, the Utah company would have to provide six months of full pay and benefits for maternity and paternity leave. The company responded that Utah’s fertility rates are higher than other states, and offering the benefit to all employees would imperil the company financially. Since </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fewer than five employees served the Twoogle account, they asked if they could implement the policy for just those employees. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twoogle said </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">no</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, they must implement the benefit regardless of the financial impact. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That every employee knew what benefits the company offered before they agreed to work there was beside the point. The tech company was forced to drop Twoogle as a client, a serious blow.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And what about Twoogle? Presumably, they engaged the company because they had the best product at the best price. They, too, will pay a price for their policies when they move to the next-best provider. How is this good for Twoogle's shareholders</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-indent: 1pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is just one small example of how ESG plays out across our economy. Multiply it by a million.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ESG is a political scoring system for investors, with companies like S&P Global</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> issuing ESG scores on corporations. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sounds</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> great, right? In reality, ESG is dictatorship in capitalist clothing. Our banks, investment managers and corporations are all promoting ESG, cleverly lending ESG the veneer of free-market capitalism. But it is not capitalism.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Capitalism is freedom in an economic context. ESG is a system of force. ESG substitutes our pluralistic institutions for conformity to centralized power, one that makes up the rules as it goes. If you don’t believe me, think about the indeterminate nature of ESG. There are two layers of subjectivity: the determination of the ESG factors themselves and the answers to those factors. If you ask people what the factors should be, you will get different answers depending on their shade of leftist politics. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 9pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even if people </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">agree</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on the factors, the answers as to what constitutes a “good” or a “bad” score for a particular factor also depends on whom you ask. Is British Petroleum “bad” because it sells oil or “good" because of its focus on developing alternatives?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is an inherently political exercise, and ESG cedes power to the entities determining those two central questions.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Government bureaucrats appear to be colluding with investment behemoths like BlackRock to make the agenda, and they use the threat of regulation and</span><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the power of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our investment money</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to bully corporate America into carrying it out.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 9pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What would prevent new factors from being used as a weapon against the other side? For example, what if the government under different party control suddenly decided to use capital to favor donations to pro-life groups? I would oppose this on the same grounds. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We need to keep our capital markets and businesses politically neutral.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Corporations and investors are free to engage in the political process but should not be bypassing that process to drive their political agendas.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 9pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pension allocators, most of whom are government employees, are also in on the game. As one insider put it, they are “effectively creating law and enforcing it without voter input, debate, or even knowledge. Given their size, their standards flow downstream, changing everything.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why, you may ask, is any of this a problem for the average person?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, why do you think gas prices are so high? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the past, capital would have flowed to traditional energy companies to fund profitable projects. With oil prices so high, there are plenty of projects to choose from. But these projects find themselves on the wrong side of </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this administration's regulators</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the ESG mob, so they don’t get funded. The result is less supply and</span><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">higher prices.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The misallocation of capital leads to vital industries dying on the vine.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is not merely inflationary, but also a national security threat. We see this playing out in Europe right now, their own early version of ESG having largely banished much-needed fossil fuels.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When Russia invaded Ukraine, their moral assessment of fossil fuels and firearms flipped. There's no consistency with ESG. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When power is centralized, society suffers. Pluralistic institutions like free capital markets protect us from the tyranny of elite power.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the other side of the ledger, ESG leads to asset bubbles in favored industries. The resulting bursts harm us all, as we saw in 2008 when the federal government forced banks to provide mortgages to high-risk borrowers in the name of social justice. The resulting defaults nearly brought down our economy.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ESG also leads to just plain bad investing, where high ESG scores trump mundane concerns like balance sheets and income statements. Solyndra, anyone?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re in a large pension plan, these mistakes are being made </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">right now</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in your portfolio. You will see it in the form of lower returns, which we are witnessing in ESG funds this year. When entire industries—fossil fuels, tobacco, defense, etc.—are excluded from your portfolio, returns will naturally suffer.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 1pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ultimately, ESG consolidates power into the hands of elites who like to decide what’s best for us. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It bypasses our legislative process and undermines our constitutional republic.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Proponents of ESG</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are socialists pretending to be capitalists. Many of them have enriched themselves through the very system they now seek to undermine. Larry Fink is a billionaire.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 9pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One more anecdote.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, "sans-serif";">Just this week, I learned a large insurance company informed one of our local utility companies that they could no longer bid for the company’s automobile insurance because some of the power they provide as a utility is coal-based.</span> Is this insurance company going to stop insuring motorists if they drive gasoline-powered cars? What about the electricity used to recharge an EV vehicle? If it comes from a coal plant, will this company decline coverage for that vehicle? Where does this end? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 9pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When corporate America starts down this path, it is hard to stop. Just ask Disney. It is not just childish; it is dangerous and destructive.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 9pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I could wave a magic wand, I would get American business back to doing actual business and out of politics. </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Capitalism has served us well.</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It is the greatest generator of wealth and innovation the world has ever known. ESG is a stealth cancer threatening the economic fabric of our country, and those who know better must join me in speaking out. Do what our little company here in Utah did and say “no” to the intolerance, hate and tyranny. </span></p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Say no to ESG.</span></span>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-69735038350089164972022-03-25T14:18:00.001-07:002022-03-29T13:17:19.420-07:00Bureaucratic Bloat Pricing Middle Class Out of Schools Like Exeter<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcd1kj9XVKtMrYJsNOpFj1-rPMO6oAR_Uep-rHclsdHlULQefso8mCiQFs2kPiYvKUM3hl_2DUa_sEiO83WZePkDr9coCkHlP0vlcoLCQVOoO_06XtY6ajfmI20pd42l1cpwR9eh9GaP_wHAtYO8zGr0hpCZjPpdXN_x33kDLai_OUgbX0eY0dDh8W_A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="672" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcd1kj9XVKtMrYJsNOpFj1-rPMO6oAR_Uep-rHclsdHlULQefso8mCiQFs2kPiYvKUM3hl_2DUa_sEiO83WZePkDr9coCkHlP0vlcoLCQVOoO_06XtY6ajfmI20pd42l1cpwR9eh9GaP_wHAtYO8zGr0hpCZjPpdXN_x33kDLai_OUgbX0eY0dDh8W_A=w414-h268" width="414" /></a></span></div><div style="font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Phillips Exeter</b></span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I've written in the past about the bureaucratic bloat that is destroying American higher ed. A mere three years ago, Yale made news when its number of administrators first exceeded its number of professors. More recently, they made news again when the admin head count surpassed the number of students.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">These spiraling numbers are the main reason tuition costs are rising so fast. Yale, with its $42 billion war chest, corrects for this by making tuition free for lower income students.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Reasonable, right? The rich pay full freight and those in need pay nothing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Not so fast. What about the middle class? <i>They</i> are the big losers. But they are not who Yale's interested in anyway.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Another issue is that the admin bloat is part and parcel of the academy's descent into insane wokeness. The huge portion of these bureaucrats are part of either DEI or Title IX initiatives. (If you're unclear on the horrors of the latter, I suggest you read <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Campusland-Scott-Johnston/dp/1250222370/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39243VXVKTH1T&keywords=campusland&qid=1648240960&sprefix=%2Caps%2C250&sr=8-1">Campusland</a> or Laura Kipnis's excellent book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unwanted-Advances-Laura-Kipnis-audiobook/dp/B01MZBO4JI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QTRNW6M3D4TD&keywords=unwanted+advances&qid=1648240996&sprefix=unwanted+advances%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-1">Unwanted Advances</a>.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">So the growth of the admin monster is bad for colleges on <i>two</i> levels: expense and ideology.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">If only all the bad ideas that spring from universities stayed in universities. Once upon a time, they did, mostly. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">No longer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Phillips Exeter, if you're not familiar, is a school that sits at or near the reputational pinnacle of American scholastic education. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">At least it did. It's hard to say now. Schools like Exeter are following universities' leads, buying into the progressive whims of the woke class, ideas very popular on Twitter, but not so much with the average American, and then adding bloated staffs to mete out the ideology. But Exeter, like Yale, isn't catering to the average American, is it?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This is what one Exeter grad wrote to me recently:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>Here is what all this waste really means – Exeter has become unaffordable for most because the cost is increasing faster than inflation. </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Why? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Because they keep adding unnecessary labor to the equation. </span></i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Stephen G. Kurtz, headmaster at Exeter when I graduated in the 80s was famous for saying that the cost of an Exeter education has always been roughly the same as the cost of an average new American car. I checked, and he was right. However, today the average American car price is $47,070</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. Exeter’s tuition with room and board? $61,121. </span></i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>In 1981, Exeter had 200 teachers and roughly a thousand students, a 5:1 ratio which we would often brag about. Guess what the ratio is today? 5:1. Same number of students, same number of teachers. </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>Then what gives? </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>Staff. </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>Staff to run things like these stupid programs. In 1981 the school had 100 staff. So, 300 total employees. Today, 400 staff. Now 600 employees. So, featherbedding. The result of all of this is reflected in the soaring costs to go to the school. </i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>But, you say, we are “need blind." Not true. What the school now has is a barbell situation where the poor and the rich can go, but those of more average means cannot. This is a very sad situation caused by profligate spending on the part of these schools. I bet if you look at Andover you will see the exact same situation.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Or anywhere, honestly, including public education. In addition to this being an ideologically driven phenomenon, don't think there isn't <i>a lot </i>of self-interest happening here.</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-53290318350419110392022-02-24T13:00:00.003-08:002022-03-08T05:31:08.796-08:00The Rise of the DEI/ESG Commissars<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEii1Q9Z8wg4mtRfTq7tvVBDCf7lHWcoEPzKIdOuPDh-6ArVIAvKURtIJbgwDdA5QLhGB9TnOHvCidLWAJ9TmqWs0qv73QTBdSKWq29A7S7dCQW-saMjr-DM9jpNoxnFM2Uem24RtzgXdW3n-wFm7dVkyMzdAOjV8zJGzb52Ljx5-Jexn4kNRa_DW5hpqg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="150" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEii1Q9Z8wg4mtRfTq7tvVBDCf7lHWcoEPzKIdOuPDh-6ArVIAvKURtIJbgwDdA5QLhGB9TnOHvCidLWAJ9TmqWs0qv73QTBdSKWq29A7S7dCQW-saMjr-DM9jpNoxnFM2Uem24RtzgXdW3n-wFm7dVkyMzdAOjV8zJGzb52Ljx5-Jexn4kNRa_DW5hpqg=w278-h344" width="278" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Who remembers the Hunt for Red October? Based on the Tom Clancy novel, Sean Connery plays a Soviet sub captain who plans to defect to the U.S. along with his senior crew.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But before that can happen...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">there's this one crew member who could foil the whole thing, and he needs to be dispatched. His position? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The political officer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And who is that? He's the one whose entire job is to make sure nothing transpires on the ship that runs afoul of Marxist orthodoxy. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Often called political <i>commissars</i>, political officers became a common practice in all communist countries. It turns out that nobody much likes living under communism, so rigid control, directed from the top, was critical. Enforcers were needed everywhere to sniff out any potential troublemakers. <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But more than just policing, the commissars are responsible for a unit's political <i>education.</i> Officers and enlisted men were forced to sit through endless dreary lessons on Marxist/Leninist ideology.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ideological conformity was paramount.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like a lot of bad ideas, political officers first appeared in France, in this case during the Revolution. They were called <i>commissaires politique</i>. The Soviets adopted the idea shortly after their own revolution, and the Chinese Liberation Army continues the practice to this day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>But...now we do too.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was talking to a prominent Ivy League professor the other day, one who will go nameless (for obvious reasons—the Ivies don't tolerate thought criminals). He laments that his school is not the same that it once was, calls it ideologically oppressive, and that it's only gotten worse under the Ivies' iron grip of Covid. (Obey!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But hey, tell us something we don't know. The once great Ivies have become rigid, depressing places (longtime Naked Dollar readers know I've chronicled this many times in the past, particularly where my own <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2019/11/indulged-children-of-ivy-league.html">alma mater</a> is concerned.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What I <i>didn't</i> know, and what I learned, was just how pervasive and intrusive the <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/04/dei-charlatans-go-into-crisis.html">DEI complex</a> has become on campuses. And I'm someone who thought he knew how bad it was.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's worse.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A quick story is relevant here. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The villain in my novel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Campusland-Scott-Johnston/dp/1250222370/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2F6C9UD5BZ9I7&keywords=campusland&qid=1645110685&sprefix=campusland%2Caps%2C184&sr=8-1">Campusland</a> is the dean of diversity and inclusion at a fictitious university (located in "Havenport, Connecticut"—draw your own conclusions). At some point, I had to decide how many employees to put in her department. After trying and failing to find out how many DEI employees several Ivies had (they pretty much bury the info), I settled on thirty. I figured, hey, this is satire, so I'm allowed to exaggerate.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Almost to the day that Campusland hit the bookstores, I found out Yale's actual number.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">150. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>If you'd read that number in a satiric novel, would you have bought it? </span><span>Me neither.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anyway, back to my professor friend.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He said that his department's DEI "coordinator" had many objections to a book he was getting published, mostly around what was deemed "triggering" terminology and characterizations. Mind you, this was a science-based book. The professor had to fight his own school's DEI bureaucracy over <i>words</i>. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBwdsTsMWBPXXsocmkGz24v0GzZoZ-ysDdWWL8SwpVq9QQSXniJ1W7SmS67nvHm7Jsqq9wBmUwnSnw6vFSZbbp1MCBt1wLAdOEQt2ROhztfTA93I76591lbT3cWUoftqjmy5MMo6skeLvKkwHF7LVu8JxYBr7apspapimCj0IVRcVoDoQv9qwTh7LO0w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="654" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBwdsTsMWBPXXsocmkGz24v0GzZoZ-ysDdWWL8SwpVq9QQSXniJ1W7SmS67nvHm7Jsqq9wBmUwnSnw6vFSZbbp1MCBt1wLAdOEQt2ROhztfTA93I76591lbT3cWUoftqjmy5MMo6skeLvKkwHF7LVu8JxYBr7apspapimCj0IVRcVoDoQv9qwTh7LO0w=w352-h239" width="352" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>An Ivy League School</b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Think about that. <b>Every department at this Ivy has not only a dedicated DEI bureaucrat, but, according to the professor, subcommittees as well.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He added:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"They take up so much of everyone's time, make everyone nervous about saying/teaching/basically thinking the wrong thing. But they feel important, and the faculty encourage them because all are afraid to be the white men who set boundaries."</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All of academia lives under the jackboot of DEI commissars. Their power is enormous.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But the professor's story doesn't end there. His outside publisher had something called a "sensitivity reader."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What's that, you ask? Pretty much the same thing as the DEI coordinator. They screen your work for <i>wrongthink</i>, to borrow from Orwell.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I called my publisher and asked about this. It turns out that at major publishers, every book, fiction and non-fiction, is put through this ideological gauntlet. Everything you read now has been scrubbed and sanitized by some nameless, faceless wokester who finds offense in everything. (Campusland, apparently, snuck in under the wire just before this took over the industry.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>The sensitivity reader in the professor's case had fifteen pages of comments. </span>Fifteen! I read them myself, and they are as particulate and ridiculous as you might imagine.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The apparatchiks are everywhere now. (Conform!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Which brings us to the financial industry and something called "ESG."</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you're not familiar with this, ESG stands for "Environmental, Social, and Governance." (It is part and parcel of something called "stakeholder capitalism.")</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ESG investing means putting your money where your values are. There's nothing ostensibly wrong with that—it's your money, you can invest it as badly as you like. But the system has been hijacked by the money managers, most notably Blackrock and its CEO, the odious Larry Fink. Rarely has someone gotten so wildly rich off the very system he seeks to destroy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoo9S7ltr78aWtKIIB24aqMH4z2K_0LPkPYqC-gC46hrRU0XSGS0kFwizC56Kq719qY-Ef5opBcHOgXKqGGy8w1bMu7_ug9gziTU2qNLO2fvmdBgldh2jvnq7bEDo2AMbTlKucNWSha_1-r8c7a3MC9HWyY7Z0rZ-BWolMM2vWTgYbBbku-CeSWjhMeA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1594" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoo9S7ltr78aWtKIIB24aqMH4z2K_0LPkPYqC-gC46hrRU0XSGS0kFwizC56Kq719qY-Ef5opBcHOgXKqGGy8w1bMu7_ug9gziTU2qNLO2fvmdBgldh2jvnq7bEDo2AMbTlKucNWSha_1-r8c7a3MC9HWyY7Z0rZ-BWolMM2vWTgYbBbku-CeSWjhMeA=w403-h202" width="403" /></a></div><br /><b>Larry Fink</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span>At $9 </span><i>trillion</i><i> </i><span>of AUM, Blackrock is easily the largest money manager in the world. They take those trillions and invest practically everywhere.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why does this matter?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Because Larry Fink is irredeemably woke, and he has made Blackrock into an activist investor. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Want them to invest in your compoany? Better be ESG compliant. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But what <i>is</i> ESG compliant?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Increasingly, investors rely on ESG "<a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/types-of-stocks/esg-investing/esg-rating/">scores</a>," actual grades for each of the three category. These can be very subjective. For instance, should Exxon get a high score or a low score? On one hand, they are an oil company, and we all know they're evil. On the other hand, they're really trying <a href=" https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2021/12/12/esg-investor-group-slams-exxon-despite-efforts-to-meet-2025-emissions-goals/?sh=40f46c0e1692">to do something</a> about it. (Correct answer: low score. Because oil.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A <i>lot</i> of power is in the hands of the people creating these scores, most notably <a href="https://www.msci.com/our-solutions/esg-investing">Morgan Stanley</a>. Think these committees are run by conservatives who value, say, cost-benefit analyses? If you do, I've got a solar array in Seattle I'd like to sell you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Also, what about the conflict? Will Exxon's ESG score magically change when Morgan Stanley's banking department is trying to raise capital for them?)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is all a bit like social media companies hiring left-wing-grifters-dressed-up-as-do-gooders like the Southern Poverty Law Center to decide who should be de-platformed. Or worse, it's an eerie echo of China's social credit system (now seemingly being <a href="https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/a-social-credit-system-arrives-in?utm_source=url">adopted by Canada</a>).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>ESG investing is all about subverting free market capitalism to the will of the woke progressive agenda. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The real fun starts <i>after</i> ESG investors invest, when they start laying shareholders resolutions on your company, forcing adherence to ESG doctrine. That's when they really start throwing their muscle around and voting all those shares—money that isn't actually theirs! That money belongs mostly to small investors via pension funds, investors who likely know little of what's being done in their name.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>ESG adherents claim they are "doing well by doing good." But there's <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9e3e1d8b-bf9f-4d8c-baee-0b25c3113319">no evidence</a> they're doing either. In fact, by forcing companies out of profitable businesses, like say, fracking </span><span>(the "E")</span><span>, by compelling companies to pursue (always progressive) social causes that have no link to shareholder profits </span><span>(the "S")</span><span>, or by forcing appointments of possibly less-than-qualified board members in the name of diversity (the "G"), it does nothing but undermine profitability. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But let's say you run an investment company, and you just want to keep running money like you used to and not have to filter everything through the lens of social justice.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No problem, right?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wrong.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-new-ethno-marxism-and-how-we-got.html">Long March</a> has captured regulators, the accrediting institutions, the consultants, and the pension allocators. The auditors will be next, according to one source. RFPs ("requests for proposal") are now littered with questions about your firm's commitment to the various tenets of wokism. According to one invesment company CEO I spoke to, "Best practices now encompass ideology. No debate, no appeal."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you want your firm to succeed, you must bend the knee.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He added the following:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"Pension allocators are the sneakiest. They are effectively creating law, public policy, and enforcing it without voter input, debate, or even knowledge. Given their size, their standards run downstream, changing everything..."</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And now, if your firm is of a certain size, you are all-but-required to have full-time ESG staff. They are your embedded commissars, and their power increases by the day. You may have graduated, but you are still on campus.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>I've singled out education and finance in this piece, but </span><span>DEI bullies, sensitivity readers, and ESG monitors</span><span> are spreading everywhere, in every manner of organization. They are a cancer, a modern Red Guard, and will ruin your career and your company if you step out of line.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, comrades, you know what to do.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Obey.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-19446809607758280142022-02-21T17:04:00.003-08:002022-02-22T09:37:10.468-08:00The Pulitzer Prize Is a Fraud<p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEJPsL5VfGjNI7NzSfjhES636FmmaqQjD3efbGycIRd0V-xL-WpKdfwO6xWxJgEL22rvE9Nys3XLMl609UmwJXj0QORtTcAIwgH1XDny7vmbPhFvC_I9VVfidCec_tc8zXZTCYOtZCaieoUuM_XZbH_6WdxNDbCvQLfUvdyUqE-do895GrD_7uwKYMUA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="798" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEJPsL5VfGjNI7NzSfjhES636FmmaqQjD3efbGycIRd0V-xL-WpKdfwO6xWxJgEL22rvE9Nys3XLMl609UmwJXj0QORtTcAIwgH1XDny7vmbPhFvC_I9VVfidCec_tc8zXZTCYOtZCaieoUuM_XZbH_6WdxNDbCvQLfUvdyUqE-do895GrD_7uwKYMUA=w387-h213" width="387" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Pulitzer</b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece called <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2020/02/conservatives-dont-win-stuff.html">Conservatives Don't Win Stuff</a>. It was based on my observation that, well, conservatives don't win stuff.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This is because the Long March through the Institutions (which I also wrote about <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-new-ethno-marxism-and-how-we-got.html">here</a>) is over. The left now controls them all, including once rock-ribbed GOP redoubts such as the Fortune 500.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Among these many institutions are, of course, the various bodies that have anointed themselves as the "giver of awards." The Motion Picture Academy, the MacArthur Fellows (they of the "Genius" Award), the Rhodes Trust, the Nobel Committee...let's just say you'll find a clean subway car in New York before you find a conservative on one of these boards.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So be it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>But one pestiferous purveyor of these accolades deserves an extra-large, heaping pile of our scorn: the Pulitzer Prize Board.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For background, the Pulitzers have long leaned hard-left. For instance, way back in the 30s, they gave the New York Times Moscow Bureau Chief, Walter Duranty, the coveted award for his propagandistic coverage of Josef Stalin, which included some delightful reportage such as the following, about the kulaks (farmers):</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYZ8zd42WG09zC_-A5DH3duEOYWTggTquQbfrPdKIyR9A7krfgRMQTGPXZiUCawX2tIaHZi7DM4nh6UNIIPmqhN1xMX-SzqSyjv0-vJWxraG8mWoZOmVmvk5yqK33iwueY2g_-5Sl_alyD02qMdUnoE3tp90qFhmA4qj4VEH5MEnDuyZOkc5T4_qsOyA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="942" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYZ8zd42WG09zC_-A5DH3duEOYWTggTquQbfrPdKIyR9A7krfgRMQTGPXZiUCawX2tIaHZi7DM4nh6UNIIPmqhN1xMX-SzqSyjv0-vJWxraG8mWoZOmVmvk5yqK33iwueY2g_-5Sl_alyD02qMdUnoE3tp90qFhmA4qj4VEH5MEnDuyZOkc5T4_qsOyA" width="320" /></a></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Walter Duranty</b></div></b><p></p><p><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Must all of them and their families be physically abolished? Of course not–they must be 'liquidated' or melted in the hot fire of exile and labor into the proletarian mass."</span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Nice.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Duranty also pointedly ignored the biggest story in the Soviet Union during the 1930s, the policy-driven famine that killed tens of millions. His reporting provided intellectual cover for an entire generation of campus-based Marxist wannabes.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Duranty was so awful that the Times itself disavowed the coverage (albeit some five decades later). Can you imagine?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, the Pulitzer people took back their little prize, right? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Nope.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Despite being formally petitioned by various groups twice, they declined to do so.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">What really separates Pulitzer from the pack, though, happened far more recently, when they gave the award to both the New York Times and the Washington Post for each's "deeply sourced' and "relentlessly reported" coverage of the fanciful "Russiagate" scandal.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, we now know, with 100% clarity, that the entire thing was a fraud concocted by Donald Trump's political opponents. There was plenty of reason to think this <i>then</i>, too, but I don't need to rehash all the details of why in this post. If you want some great reporting on just how outrageous this Pulitzer was, I refer you to this excellent <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/02/20/the-absurd-russiagate-pulitzer-of-the-ny-times-and-washington-post/">piece</a> in the New York Post. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Needless to say, the Times and the Washington Post have not returned their awards, and the Pulitzer Board had not asked for them back. All parties probably think the Russia narrative <i>could</i> have been true, even if it blatantly wasn't.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">We're all good here.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But this got me wondering. Who's behind curtain? What kind of people would make such a horrendous mistake and not even attempt to walk it back.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">One of the wonderful things about the internet is that it's easy to find out such things. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Unlike the mostly center-left <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/06/all-lovely-people.html">Lovely People</a> who inhabit school boards, about whom I have written, these people are committed progressives. The Pulitzer Board consists of precisely what you'd imagine: a rogue's gallery of academic, journalistic, and NGO leftists. All but one live on the coasts (the sole exception living in coastal aspirant Austin, Texas).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I present to you, the Pulitzer Board:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">(Perhaps genuflect as you read these names—these people are <i>very</i> elite and went to <i>very</i> good schools.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Elizabeth Alexander</b> - Head of hard-left Mellon Foundation, big Obama supporter. Read her tweets <a href="https://twitter.com/professorea">here</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nancy Barnes</b> - Editorial Director, NPR</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lee Bollinger </b>- President, Columbia University</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Katherine Boo</b> - former staff writer for the New Yorker and current reporter for the Washington Post.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Neil Brown</b> - former editor of <a href="https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/tampa-bay-times/">left-leaning</a> Tampa Bay Times. Now runs the Poynter Institute, a journalism school funded in part by George Soros's Open Society Foundation. One principal area of focus is "fact-checking technology." (Cue the irony.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nicole Carroll</b> - Editor-in-chief of <a href="https://www.allsides.com/blog/updated-media-bias-ratings-abc-news-usa-today-national-review-cbs-news-reason">left-leaning</a> USA Today</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Steve Coll</b> - Dean of Columbia Journalism School, the ever-flowing wellspring of liberal journalists.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Gail Collins</b> - Editorial Board, New York Times (Does she get to vote on the Times' own Pulitzers?)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>John Daniszewski</b> - Editor at Large for "standards" at the Associated Press. Here's a quote from his bio: "John <span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">works with journalists and editors around the world to ensure the highest levels of media ethics and fairness." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">One wonders if these people have any self-awareness, any at all.</span></span></p><p><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: large;"><b>Steve Engelberg</b> - Editor in chief of <a href="https://www.allsides.com/news-source/propublica">lefty</a> online news organization ProPublica. Also won Pulitzers. Worked for NYT for 18 years.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Carolos Lozada</b> - Washington Post book critic, author of "What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era." Twitter feed: <a href="https://twitter.com/CarlosLozadaWP">https://twitter.com/CarlosLozadaWP</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Kelly Hernandez</b> - Professor of African American Studies, UCLA. From her bio: "<span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">One of the nation’s leading experts on race, immigration, and mass incarceration." Believes we are "wasting money" on policing and incarceration. Watch her here: </span><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="color: #333333;"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1kigeQAG6k">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1kigeQAG6k</a>.</span></span></span></p><p><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><b>Aminda Gonzalez</b>: VP and Exec Editor, Simon & Schuster</span></p><p><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: large;"><b>Kevin Merida</b> - Executive Editor, LA Times</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-weight: 700;">Viet Thanh Nguyen</span><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333;"> -</span><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> Professor of English, American Studies and Ethnicity at USC.</span></span></p><p><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: large;"><b>Emily Ramshaw</b> - CEO of The 19th, a feminist-oriented news service. <i>Very</i> concerned on Twitter about the shortage of female climate scientists.</span></p><p><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: large;"><b>David Remnick</b> - Editor of the New Yorker, and author of, among other things, a hagiography of Barack Obama and a recent <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-an-insider-now">puff piece</a> on AOC.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tommie Shelby</b> - Professor of African American Studies at Harvard. Recent speech title: "Afro-Analytical Marxism and the Problem of Race."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Pro tip moving forward: these awards are nothing more than trumped up self-congratulation inside an intellectually fatuous, vacuum-sealed bubble. To the average American, they mean nothing, and nor should they. Ignore them.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Now give me a damn beer.</span></p><p><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 21px;"><br /></span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-61310497024619492632021-11-26T07:28:00.001-08:002022-02-24T06:12:37.028-08:00The Digitization of Ownership and Why It's Really Cool<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Trigger Warning: this post has nothing to do with schools, CRT, or even politics. But read on to discover the incredibly cool financial market developments happening right now, but not fully understood. Note that I previously wrote about crypto developments in "<a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/01/why-conservatives-should-love.html">Why Conservatives Should Love Cryptocurrencies</a>."</i></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tvnA-JWDcyI/YZ6clZZ_u7I/AAAAAAAADX8/CNiEVggSmnYdrPO3Mdr6DUkBwqElUenrgCLcBGAsYHQ/quatre-aston-dans-le-nouveau-bond-20092-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="259" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tvnA-JWDcyI/YZ6clZZ_u7I/AAAAAAAADX8/CNiEVggSmnYdrPO3Mdr6DUkBwqElUenrgCLcBGAsYHQ/w379-h259/quatre-aston-dans-le-nouveau-bond-20092-1.jpg" width="379" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Imagine you could own a $1,000 portfolio that looked like this:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">$200 New York Yankees</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">$375 Picasso's<i> Guernica</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">$125 Ranch land in Wyoming</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">$250 David Bowie's song catalogue</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">$100 James Bond's Aston Martin</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">$75 Kyle Rittenhouse's prospective legal settlements</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Each of these positions represents equity ownership. Crazy? Think again, because it's coming fast. </span><span>These are all assets of varying sorts and there is no reason they each couldn't have fractional ownership in the form of crypto. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You probably heard about the U.S. Constitution almost being purchased by 17,437 random people. While they didn't win the bidding, that's hardly the point. They raised $47 million in <i>seventy-two hours</i>. Average donation: $206. (My son was in for $180.)</span><span style="font-size: large;"> This was all done using crypto currency as the medium of exchange.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Nobody had to hire lawyers to set up an LLC. Nobody had to hire a management team. No intermediaries required.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">They came together in the form of a DAO—a Decentralized Autonomous Organization. Basically, a bunch of people buy crypto coins, pool them, and then decide what to buy and what to do with the asset after its purchase. The more coins you own, the more votes you get.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Then there's this. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A company called <a href="https://blockbar.com/">BlockBar</a> is making it possible to buy crypto coins associated with uber-expensive bottles of rare liquor. If you own a coin, it's associated with a specific bottle. You can exchange the coin at any time for the bottle itself, which is stored safely.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Let me back up a moment. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">By now, you've probably heard of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). They burst on the scene about a year ago. Until recently, they were just a way to claim ownership of a digital asset, say, an electronic image like this one, <i>3DPunks #087</i>:</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wrDVJ3-RMjM/YaDqdtQGr-I/AAAAAAAADYE/xlT9XtU1d6YQw_7N9kdQ1neshFjAghEyACLcBGAsYHQ/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-26%2Bat%2B8.56.28%2BAM.png" style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="590" height="262" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wrDVJ3-RMjM/YaDqdtQGr-I/AAAAAAAADYE/xlT9XtU1d6YQw_7N9kdQ1neshFjAghEyACLcBGAsYHQ/w266-h262/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-11-26%2Bat%2B8.56.28%2BAM.png" width="266" /></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You can be the official owner of this image for the low, low price of $2100. Alternatively, you can copy and paste it, like I did.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It's easy to see why some, including me, were skeptical. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">More recently, though, NFTs have represented claims on a broader range of things such as experiences, access to parties parties, membership in communities, and such. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">More interesting.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But back to BlockBar.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>What they are doing is creating NFT coins for <i>tangible</i> assets, and that's where things get <i>very</i> interesting.</b> And not just tangible assets, but theoretically any kind of asset. Team ownership, legal settlements, intellectual property. Basically anything that has a value.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, why not just own the bottle Macallan 40 itself? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Because most people who buy these bottles are investors who never drink them, and the coin is more liquid, should they choose to sell. To quote BlackBar's CEO, "You can always exchange the digital asset for the physical, but it is easier to sell the digital asset—you don't have to physically move the bottle, ship it all over the world, and have it be authenticated over and over again by auction houses selling it."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If the Constitution DAO's investors had succeeded, any of them could have sold out at any point, perhaps making a profit.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If this all has a familiar ring, it should. Once upon a time people used precious metals as currency. But lugging gold and silver around was cumbersome and dangerous, so currencies that represented a <i>claim</i> on metals were created. The U.S. had the gold standard as well as silver certificates. How much easier—and safer—it became to engage in commerce. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>What we're witnessing now is an evolution in this concept—the digitization of ownership, all made possible by the underlying security of the blockchain.</b> All sorts of previously illiquid assets, many of which have been unattainable but for the very rich, will soon be liquid and accessible to even the smallest investors.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>Just imagine the new forms of investment and speculation this opens up. Think the Yankees just made a bad trade? Sell! Think Kyle Rittenhouse will end up owning CNN and MSNBC? Buy! Just want to brag about owning James Bond's car? Buy!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>(The Kyle Rittenhouse angle is interesting, because if you think about it, anyone could sell "themselves," or more specifically, their future earnings stream. There could be an entire subsection of NFTs where you trade in the future prospects of famous people.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>Anyone with even a few dollars to invest can play in the most rarefied of markets.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UdOmA3nlN1k/YZ6b31r7XhI/AAAAAAAADX0/1UtJB4gigUMOnl6IFIwqXcgpgUE5-RLyACLcBGAsYHQ/s727/http___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_200122162354-01-picasso-famous-paintings.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="727" height="218" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UdOmA3nlN1k/YZ6b31r7XhI/AAAAAAAADX0/1UtJB4gigUMOnl6IFIwqXcgpgUE5-RLyACLcBGAsYHQ/w460-h218/http___cdn.cnn.com_cnnnext_dam_assets_200122162354-01-picasso-famous-paintings.jpg" width="460" /></span></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><b>Guernica</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>But this has benefits for the very rich as well. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Let's say you currently own </span><i style="font-size: large;">Guernica. </i></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>(You don't, because it hangs in the Musea Reina Sophia in Madrid, but let's assume that away.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>I'm guessing <i>Guernica</i> is worth $150 million, but hey, it doesn't go with your new decor and you want to sell. You'll have to go through Sotheby's or Christies and pay them 10% of the auction hammer price, or $15 million. The process will take many weeks, and the painting will have to be shipped to the auction house for authentication and viewing. It's all very time consuming and expensive.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>This is why trading in and out of things like paintings really doesn't happen much. The friction is too great.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><i>But,</i> if your ownership were digitized on the blockchain, you could sell it tomorrow. Or, if you prefer, sell 49% and still maintain controlling rights, which means <i>Guernica</i> still hangs over your fireplace.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>Expenses go down, liquidity goes up. These are compelling things. And they both add significant value to any asset.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>Digital stock markets are already being created, such as <a href="https://opensea.io/">Open Sea</a>. Most of the listings are, frankly, digital effluence like <i>3DPunks #087</i>. B</span></span></span></span></span><span>ut tangibles will be there soon enough. Coinbase is planning an NFT market, and they may quickly become the market leader. (Full disclosure: I own shares.)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>Sure, all this will take some time. Owners of things will have to decide to go digital, or they'll have to sell to DAOs. But an increasingly varied number of assets will find their way into the crypto space.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>Here's hoping our regulators don't feel the need to screw it up. They tend to get very uneasy when confronted with new things they don't fully understand. Digitization is highly democratic, and decentralization is something we all should embrace, particularly conservatives and libertarians.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Digital Picasso ownership? Already <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/master-pieces-swiss-bank-issuing-nft-shares-in-picasso-painting-for-6k-each">here</a>. Not Guernica, but a painting called "<i>Fillette au beret</i>."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span>Buckle up, it's going to be fun.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>UPDATE (2/24/21): </b>Making the Naked Dollar look quite prescient, a <a href="https://decrypt.co/93382/dao-is-trying-buy-nfl-denver-broncos-4-billion">DAO</a> is currently raising money to but the Denver Broncos.</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-91440632481129789512021-11-03T14:58:00.012-07:002021-11-08T07:34:39.198-08:00The Spence-Yale Connection (or How Schools Go Woke)<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span>Welcome Instapundit Readers!</span></b></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FpAqKlu1Tc8/YYAzap1xTmI/AAAAAAAADWc/Y7HXwwoUlz8Nz_Oda6IbGV2YYFdWAcbWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="227" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FpAqKlu1Tc8/YYAzap1xTmI/AAAAAAAADWc/Y7HXwwoUlz8Nz_Oda6IbGV2YYFdWAcbWwCLcBGAsYHQ/w352-h227/images.jpg" width="352" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Spence School</span></b></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Yesterday's Virginia results were a complete political earthquake. I can't think of a more important non-presidential election result in my lifetime. There were a number of reasons, but none bigger than parents screaming "enough!" <i>We will not let you use our children as fodder for your social experiments.</i></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Of course, this is a rebellion of <i>public</i> school parents. Private school parents are still paralyzed by the (legitimate) fear that speaking up will result in retaliation on their kids, often in the form of tepid college recommendations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">If you aren't familiar with the New York City private school scene, there's a pantheon of sorts. It includes the most sought after and expensive. Most of the schools I've been writing about in recent months are in this select group, schools like Dalton and Brearley. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Most, perhaps all, have also been experiencing an unprecedented cultural lurch to the left, particularly in the eighteen months since George Floyd. This lurch has been happening even faster in the private schools than public because there are fewer institutional roadblocks to curricular change. School leadership can just decide to make it happen. Boards usually rubber stamp things after the fact, if at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Spence, which is all girls, is one of the schools in New York's pantheon. As Spence's peer schools landed in the papers last year with one woke explosion after another, Spence managed to stay under the radar, at least relatively.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Oh, things had been percolating. There was the racial <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/05/30/student-at-elite-school-smeared-as-racist-over-instagram-post-suit/">show trial</a> of white high school girl for an innocent Instagram post in 2019, one the school didn't even see before the accused was hung out to dry. Other people who <i>hadn't seen it either</i> were offended, so someone had to pay. The parents yanked their daughters and sued.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Financier <a href="https://pagesix.com/2020/07/07/billionaire-john-paulson-rips-elite-spence-school-for-anti-white-indoctrination/">John Paulson</a>, one of the most prominent educational philanthropists out there, also wrote a scathing letter to Spence that was later leaked, saying, "There appears to be an anti-white indoctrination that permeates many parts of the Spence curriculum." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He left the board and removed both of his daughters from the school.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Things were further amplified this June when a Spence parent, alumna, and former trustee (<a href="https://nypost.com/2021/06/15/spence-school-showed-vid-that-tarred-and-feathered-white-women/">Gabriela Baron</a>) wrote Spence a scathing letter that leaked and went viral. Baron was set off by a video shown in her daughter's middle school class that disparages white women. The video has a rating of TV-MA, which signifies content not suitable for minors under seventeen. Baron's letter noted the school's increased focus on race and how girls were forced to do things like make political protest signs in class. The school apologized. The teacher who showed the video remains at Spence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I didn't report on this at the time. Some people asked me why, and that's because the story was already out there, and I didn't think the Naked Dollar had anything to add. Honestly, it's only worth blogging if you have some facts or a perspective that others might not. But I do get a lot of information over the transom, mostly in the form of, "I can't be seen speaking out about this, but please get this story out there." (Side note: some of you might actually have to take some personal risk if the culture is to be saved.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I do get asked a lot if wokeness is a pendulum that will inevitable swing back. I don't know - there are some favorable signs, but I'm still not optimistic.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I <i>also</i> get asked how all this started, because while George Floyd was definitely an accelerant, wokeness was not hatched, fully formed, in May 2020. How did this disease penetrate our nation's best K-12 schools?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Like so many of our culture's bad ideas, the source appears to be the academe. Specifically, the Ivy League. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">More specifically, Yale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Back in the late aughts, Spence had a problem. They had gone several years without sending a girl to New Haven. The number I've been told is four.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This was occasion for alarm bells in Spence's marble halls. They graduate about seventy girls a year, so that means they had gone close to three hundred girls without a single getting into Yale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">While this might not be shocking for a big public high school somewhere, for a school like Spence it was. Remember, this is an elite school, academically. Also remember many of the parents were likely Yale grads. Wealthy ones, the kind who write checks. Spence's ranks would have been teeming with legacies. I'm guessing around that time, a school in that league would have expected at least a quarter of their girls to get into an Ivy. But if Yale was stiffing them, who might be next?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Something had to be done.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">So, according to people I have spoken to, Spence did the logical thing: they hoofed it up to New Haven and knocked on the door of the admissions department. It is thought it was Bodie Brizendine herself, the school head, along with the college placement officer. The conversation went something like this:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">SPENCE:<span> </span>Hey, Yale, what gives?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">YALE: <span> </span><span> Sorry, who are you again?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> We're from the Spence School? In New York? You used to love us?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> Oh, right. What can we do for you? Kinda busy here.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> Well, you don't seem to be taking any of our girls.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> Our admission rate is five percent. What the hell do you expect?</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> We used to get a lot of our girls in. Did I mention this is Spence?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> ....</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> Anyway, we were wondering if we were doing something wrong.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE: Uh, <i>yeah</i>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE: <span> Could you be more specific?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> Look, Spence, times have changed.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> Again, very sorry to be a bother, but specifics would be helpful.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> <span> Okay. Here's what we see when we look at you: you're an Upper East Side school<span> </span>for the neighborhood rich kids. White ones.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE: Well, that <i>is</i> who tends to live in our neighborhood. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> Don't care. We're really not interested in white kids anymore. Unless they<span> </span>play a sport. Got any of those?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> Well, we're an urban school, so it's not always that easy...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> We're gonna need to see more multicultural faces, then. You follow?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> Okay, we see your point. Our diversity numbers could be better. We'll be sure to reach out to other neighborhoods.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> Yes, see to that.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> Okay, so we're good here?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> No.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> What? We thought—</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> It's your curriculum. Change it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> What's wrong with our curriculum? We're proud of it</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE: You're kidding us, right? We looked online. <i>So</i> DWE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> Sorry?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>YALE:<span> </span><span> Dead White European. </span></span>Emily Bronte? Seriously? And who the hell bothers with<span> </span>Latin anymore?<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE: Just tell us what you need. <i>Please</i>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> Okay, more Maya, less Milton. You get us? Maybe hire a diversity consultant for<span> </span>this. We like that. And in a couple of years there's gonna be some people named<span> </span>Kendi,<span> </span>DiAngelo, and Coates. You better know that shit.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">SPENCE:<span> How could you know what's going to happen in the future?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">YALE:<span> </span><span> This is Yale you're talking to lady. Why do you think you people want to get in here so bad? Now, we gotta go before they run out of poached salmon at the<span> </span>faculty<span> </span>club.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Okay, perhaps I don't have a precise transcript of the meeting, and perhaps Yale doesn't have a faculty club. But you get the idea.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tx6Hj4CWyik/YYBLMCLAQ5I/AAAAAAAADWs/ltFOEMu5HooD_F7HQogQ_Xa9IuidThNsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s399/033702fa-deab-4c4a-9358-90e2aa22b078.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="399" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tx6Hj4CWyik/YYBLMCLAQ5I/AAAAAAAADWs/ltFOEMu5HooD_F7HQogQ_Xa9IuidThNsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/033702fa-deab-4c4a-9358-90e2aa22b078.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Bizendine</b></span></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Brizendine found herself at a crossroads. Stand up for classical education and cast a blind eye on race, or go with the flow - a flow that was becoming a torrent. I don't have to tell you which she chose. Non-white numbers soared (now nearly 40%) and Spence hired mega diversity consultant <a href="https://defendinged.org/report/pacific-educational-group-inc/">Pacific Education Group</a>, founded by...wait for it...an ex-Ivy admissions officer.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">You can argue Brizendine was just doing her job, which was responding to the market. Certainly, if Spence's record with Yale (and others) had continued to suffer, her head would have been on a chopping block.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">And so, Spence became Yale's dancing bear. Their numbers with Yale recovered.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>But</i> - there was an irony yet to be played out. And this is an irony being played out across the private school world right now, not just Spence...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">The white parents and board members that panicked about this and jumped into the woke rabbit hole haven't benefitted at all, college admissions wise. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">(Trigger warning. Here's where I'm going to say some of the quiet parts out loud.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Sure, Spence's number may have recovered, but the white kids aren't doing any better with Yale or any of the other Ivies. If fact, they're doing worse. Turns out the Ivies just wanted the non-white kids (er, except the Asians), and were delighted to get them from the better private schools.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">There's nothing wrong with this, superficially, but it certainly wasn't the plan in all those board meetings, circa 2010.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">(Side note: private schools that go through 12th grade are far more susceptible to wokeness precisely because of this pressure to deliver what the Yale's want. The K-8/9 schools have some immunity to this.)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">There are two paths that remain for the white kids. The first is parental donations, but they have to be HUGE. The number at Yale and Harvard, I'm told, is $10,000,000, and that's the bare minimum for guaranteed admission, assuming your kid isn't an idiot. A flat million will get your kid's file a second glance, but that's it. Below that admissions departments couldn't care less. In fact, they take <i>pride</i> in not caring less. They really, really don't want any of you unless they're ordered to act otherwise.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Makes me laugh when I think about all the alums fretting over whether to increase their annual donations to 10k because they have a kid coming up.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">They <i>don't care</i>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Look at it this way. Yale now has $42 <i>billion</i> dollars in its endowment. Harvard has <i>$53</i> billion. It takes a lot to move the needle. They can have whomever they damn well want in their freshman class, and it's not your fourth generation kid.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">The second way in is sports. They still need to fill those teams (pesky alums insist!), so if your kid is a great athlete with great grades and scores, he/she's got a shot. This fact has fueled the careers of a thousand squash and fencing coaches. But don't kid yourself: Ivy sports are Division I (save football).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">I spoke to a number of Spence community members before writing this. Some no longer want anything to do with Spence. Others still care deeply for it, and point out that Spence is not "as bad" as those Daltons out there, at least where wokeness and racial divisiveness are concerned.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">I can't say for sure whether that's the case or not, although I <i>can</i> say that's setting an awfully low bar. And to those parents still holding out hope, I would point out the following: even the best of schools can fall to CRT in a single year, and you don't get them back. It all comes down to leadership, and Spence's is about to change.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pg3cPgKFzsU/YYGHZ6YqR4I/AAAAAAAADW4/wtWg26hoU6Yb8JzwVjaTLWmTWHP8jskXwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/unnamed.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="348" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pg3cPgKFzsU/YYGHZ6YqR4I/AAAAAAAADW4/wtWg26hoU6Yb8JzwVjaTLWmTWHP8jskXwCLcBGAsYHQ/w274-h348/unnamed.jpeg" width="274" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Felicia Wilks</span></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">After about fifteen years, Brizendine is stepping down. Spence has hired someone named Felicia Wilks from the Lakeside School in Seattle. She may be wonderful. But consider that she once ran her school's DEI Department, and when asked in a videotaped interview whom she was reading, the first person she cited was Ta-Nehisi Coates, a leading purveyor of white supremacy alarmism. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I'd be delighted to be wrong, but these are not encouraging signs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As always, I want to call out the <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/06/all-lovely-people.html">Lovely People</a>, in this case Spence's Board of Trustees:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">William Jacob III <span> </span><span> <span> </span>President</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Anand Desai<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span>Vice President</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Kimberly Kravis<span> </span><span> <span> </span>Vice President</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Akuezunkpa Welcome<span> Vice President</span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Arthur Chu<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> Secretary</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Stacey St. Rose</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Dana Wallach Jones</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Ellanor Brizendine</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Heather Berger</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Hannah Overseth Bozian</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Michael Clifford</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Vanessa Cornell</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Erica Desai</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Joseph Drayton</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Carlos Fierro</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Judith Joseph Jenkins</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Alexis McGill Johnson</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Meredith Lipsher</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Bryce Markus</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Ahrin Mishan</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">C. Cybele Raver</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Anya Herz Shiva</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">James Shulman</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Jose Tavarez</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;">Daryl Wout</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-46103634710910369952021-09-26T09:50:00.007-07:002021-10-06T16:00:10.212-07:00The Real Problem of Roe v. Wade (It's Not What You Think)<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CR6XtlzlzV8/YVCeDq8Wd9I/AAAAAAAADVA/uwJMOc_YCe4ksMxHUjYacuFDy_VNeqJXwCLcBGAsYHQ/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="265" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CR6XtlzlzV8/YVCeDq8Wd9I/AAAAAAAADVA/uwJMOc_YCe4ksMxHUjYacuFDy_VNeqJXwCLcBGAsYHQ/w396-h265/images.jpg" width="396" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span><p></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Forward: The Texas abortion law has thrust the abortion issue back to the forefront of the culture wars, and, for some, it might seem inappropriate for a white American male in his early sixties to be commenting. If you're one of those people, I ask for your forbearance, because this column is not an attack on the right to choose. Nor is it a defense of it. Rather, it is an exploration of how, as Americans, we got to such a divisive place.</span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ever wonder why you never hear about abortion protests - for or against - in other countries? Seriously, think about it. Where are the mass marches in India or Brazil or Morocco? They happen, once in a while, but it's nothing like the constant frenzy that the issue provokes in the U.S.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Why is that?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I thought it would be interesting to research abortion laws around the world. Would I find clues to the silence? What I found was interesting. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Abortion was legal in exactly zero countries until North Korea legalized it in 1950 (probably to cut the number of mouths to feed). Later in the 50s it was followed by a number of other communist nations such as the Soviet Union, and then in the 60s Cuba. The first Western nations to follow suit were the Netherlands and the U.S. in 1973.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Today, abortion is widely available, even in Catholic countries like Ireland and Italy. In fact, there are only <i>five</i> countries out of 199 that bar abortions in all circumstances: Abkhazia (yeah, I'd never heard of it either), El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Vatican City.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here's where it gets interesting. Do you know how many countries have full abortion-on-demand, regardless of circumstances?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Four.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That's it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">They are: Canada, North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. <b>Virtually every other country allows abortions, but with gestation limits.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Liberal Denmark, that other early-70s abortion pioneer is twelve weeks. France? Fourteen weeks. Sweden? Eighteen weeks. Hey, how about Mongolia? Fourteen weeks.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The world average is about thirteen weeks.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The global consensus seems to be: the later a pregnancy is terminated, the bigger the tragedy. Aborting an eight-month-old fetus is a morally worse thing than aborting a lesser-formed, two-month one. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, there's no celestial arbiter that can say this is true, at least not one we can speak to. It is just how most countries have decided they feel about the issue, and they crafted their laws through democratic consensus. The message to women: if you're going to do this, our societies will allow it, but it must be early in your term.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">These countries represent every conceivable religion and political system, yet they arrived at remarkably similar positions. The majority are democratic, so they got there through democratic consensus.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>America did not, and that's the problem.</b> We arrived where we are through judicial fiat, otherwise known as "Roe v. Wade."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That Roe was a horrible decision, Constitutionally speaking, is understood by all serious judicial observers. Justice Blackmum made up a Constitutional right to privacy out of whole cloth - in this case, the 14th Amendment - because he needed some thin reed on which to achieve a policy outcome the Burger Court clearly wanted. In reality, the Constitution is silent on abortion and the right to privacy, which means our fifty states should be able to decide the issue for themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just because Roe was bad <i>jurisprudence</i> doesn't mean many weren't quite happy with the outcome. The ends justify the means, if you convince yourself the ends are important enough.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>But there have been consequences to legalizing abortion via judicial fiat rather than the ballot box.</b> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Once abortion became the province of the courts, the issue could no longer be addressed through democratic negotiation. It became an all-or-nothing proposition in the courts. Positions on both sides hardened, particularly among the culture warriors and the PACs. You had to be for unlimited abortion-on-demand, or against any abortion, anytime. Even the slightest concession was viewed as the slippery slope, the dam bursting. Nuance and compromise became impossible. Many people became one issue voters.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Now, we live in a highly polarized culture and Roe, more than almost anything, is a root cause. Abortion has been weaponized by both parties. We also have high stakes dramas around every new court pick. It was never like that before Roe.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I believe most Americans have a view on abortion closer to the Swedes and the Mongolians. The problem is, the court took away their power to decide for themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Roe should be overturned not because abortion is evil. It should be overturned because it's bad law. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But what happens then? To hear the hysterical left talk about it, the world will come to an end, and no woman will ever be able to terminate a pregnancy. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That won't happen. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Even before Roe, twenty states permitted abortions (under varying circumstances). That was <i>fifty years ago</i>, in a far more culturally conservative era.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Legislation would be passed <i>very</i> quickly in most states. My guess is that fifteen or twenty would continue with our current policy, and the remaining will have gestation limits. And while it's possible, I doubt any states would opt for a complete ban. What do I base that on? Texas, one of our most conservative states, went with a six-week limit. (This is admittedly very short, but it's what their duly elected representatives wanted. It can be changed if it doesn't prove popular. The will of the people <i>has</i> to matter.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And what if you're a woman, and your state's laws don't work for you? Well, I'm not suggesting this is convenient, but you can always drive a few hours to the next state. Anything that important to your life should be worth the inconvenience.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ultimately, things will calm down. My evidence for this? The rest of the world.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The problem is, Democrat operatives, and even a few Republican ones, don't want this. A <i>lot</i> of money is raised on the back of the abortion wars. In the wake of Texas, abortion will likely dominate the 2022 midterms, just as it's quickly dominating the Virginia governors election, coming in a few weeks. This is unfortunate, because there are <i>so</i> many other things we need to be talking about.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You will notice I haven't offered my own opinion on abortion, and that's because it's besides the point. The point is that we've approached this issue in the wrong way. Roe wasn't just a horrible decision, constitutionally, it was a significant progenitor of today's culture wars.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Time for it to go.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-50312189881612834122021-09-21T11:02:00.003-07:002021-09-23T07:49:45.433-07:00The Fallacy of Credentials<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">For your consideration, I give you Jake Sullivan.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IwMnwcVLhT4/YUn1jQRT-KI/AAAAAAAADUs/5JJ8z3wDP70NIfRbw5GcDxXR9KfTTc-HgCLcBGAsYHQ/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="232" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IwMnwcVLhT4/YUn1jQRT-KI/AAAAAAAADUs/5JJ8z3wDP70NIfRbw5GcDxXR9KfTTc-HgCLcBGAsYHQ/w384-h232/download.jpg" width="384" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Sullivan, as a reminder, is Joe Biden's National Security Advisor. He is a mere forty-four years old. But what a resume!</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Sullivan went to Yale, where he was an editor of the Yale Daily News, graduated summa cum laude, was Phi Beta Kappa, and was awarded the Snow Prize as the single best scholar in his class.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">Upon graduation, he was offered both Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships. He went with the Rhodes.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">From Oxford, it was off to Yale Law School, where he was an editor on the Yale Law Review.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">From there, Sullivan clerked for Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm even leaving out some stuff. Credentially speaking, Jake Sullivan sits at the very pinnacle of the American establishment. Resumes don't get much better.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And you know what? <b>None of that means a damn thing, because Jake Sullivan is an idiot.</b> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh, I don't deny that Sullivan is book smart, and likely has a capacity for hard work. Once, a generation or two ago, you would have said, "Wow, this is a crazy-smart guy." But now all his resume says is, "I have marinated my entire life in the progressive establishment, and am now a card-carrying member of America's liberal elite." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It hardly merits mentioning that this has left Sullivan without the capacity for common sense. He has presided, in various capacities, over the following foreign policy disasters:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Iran, Myanmar, and now, of course, maybe the biggest foreign policy catastrophe in collective memory, Afghanistan.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jake Sullivan is not alone. I'm picking on him because, well, he's just such low hanging fruit. Our nation's elite institutions are turning out scores of Jake Sullivan's. (England, too - check out the <a href="https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media/45255/winners_bios_2020.pdf">Rhodes winners</a>. 100% social justice warriors.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But when a tenured Cornell professor calls black holes "racist," when Harvard holds a separate graduation for blacks, when Yale bans calling anyone a "master" of something, seriously, what do you expect? Kids with street smarts or basic common sense?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The institutions that we have traditionally placed on the top of our cultural pedestal - the ones that <i>award</i> all those coveted credentials - are now the most corrupt.</b> They have become radical left-wing echo chambers where ideological adherence is rewarded and dissent swiftly punished. Social justice has replaced the search for truth as the over-arching guiding principle. Debate and free inquiry have all but vanished, because both imply there's more than one acceptable viewpoint. Students rising through this system are never truly taught how to think, merely what to think (to quote my friend, Andrew Gutmann). </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Such inflexible minds are destined to fail when let loose in the messiness of the real world, where solutions require mental agility, reason, and common sense. They require one to think through different options and to consider the perspective of others. It was almost deliciously revealing that the very week Afghanistan fell, our embassy there was flying a gay pride flag (as encouraged by another credentialed idiot, that Princeton grad with a chest full of meaningless ribbons, Mark Milley).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One wonders if Jake Sullivan realizes just how useless all his credentials are. Just kidding, because there's <i>no way</i> he does. That was rhetorical musing on my part. Jake Sullivan will continue to burnish his resume. Our finest universities will heap honorary degrees upon him and ask him to speak at graduations. The media will exalt him. High paying sinecures and book deals await him when he leaves government service. Perhaps he'll even win an Emmy like Andrew Cuomo.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Guys like Jake Sullivan fail in only one direction - up.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-46272433333454997062021-08-27T16:43:00.004-07:002021-09-07T09:19:20.034-07:00Joe Biden Just Made the World a More Dangerous Place<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4Cb3n1EPklU/YSl0phARy5I/AAAAAAAADUE/ocD-ZyY7JHwlnMJEo3lMuR57uYZ0iZiLgCLcBGAsYHQ/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="232" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4Cb3n1EPklU/YSl0phARy5I/AAAAAAAADUE/ocD-ZyY7JHwlnMJEo3lMuR57uYZ0iZiLgCLcBGAsYHQ/w346-h232/download.jpg" width="346" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Great Destroyer</b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">My contributions to Naked Dollar have long been sporadic because I only write something when I think I have something to say that isn't already being said by a thousand other people. This doesn't happen every day. So what could I possibly add to the debacle in Afghanistan?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since everything is so chaotic, and developments are happening literally by the hour, I don't see enough people considering the medium and long-term ramification, and they are not pretty.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The short version is that Joe Biden has made the world an immeasurably more dangerous place than it was a month ago.</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What we can look forward to in the medium term is this: the Taliban will keep some number of Americans as "guests," saying it's for their own "safety." Then, they will create a special new "exit visa" that the American government will have to pay to extract each guest. Ten million a head. Or a hundred million. Perhaps a billion? The Taliban follow the news, and they know full well that Biden is about to spend trillions of dollars of money he doesn't have. What's another hundred billion or so?</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He will pay it, of course.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But here's what comes after. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Chinese and the Russians will start bidding aggressively for the Taliban's affections. Their largesse will not come with strings attached like <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7438222975913037031/4561294839677223714"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">gender equity mandates</span></a>. “<i>Want to make sex slaves out of 12-year-old girls? Have at it, Mustaffa…</i>”</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Taliban, not being stupid, will play these two powers off each other to maximize their riches. This is on top of the billions Joe Biden will have already sent over in ransom (perhaps even on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7438222975913037031/4561294839677223714"><span class="s1" style="color: blue;">palettes</span></a>).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To the highest bidders, the Taliban will also auction off the most desirable American weapons of war, especially those “smart” systems with our proprietary software management programs. Everything will be reverse engineered down to the last screw and line of code.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Eventually, either China or Russia will become the Taliban's key strategic partner. My money is on China, because they are eyeing Afghanistan's mineral wealth, particularly the lithium deposits and critical rare earth minerals that are important elements in technology products.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They will build Afghanistan all sorts of nice things in exchange for lots of strategic resources that a bunch of stone age tribes couldn't care less about, but that we, and the Chinese, care a great deal about.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>But that's not even the bad part.</b> China has demonstrated its clear interest in destabilizing the West by any means possible (same with Russia, should they come out on top). They do not view us as partners in growth. They are<i> communists</i>, so everything is zero sum. The problem is that militant Islam <i>also</i> wants to destabilize the West. Interests are aligned.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, here's how it plays out. China will quietly encourage 9-11-style attacks on the West, but this time, it won't be box cutters. The Taliban/ISIS/al Qaeda - whomever it is, but let's face it, they're all basically in bed together where the West is concerned - will be able to choose from a robust set of tactical options. Want some bio weapons, perhaps some anthrax? How about some high-tech drones to deliver the anthrax down Broadway? Or maybe use some “cyber weapons” to attack America's infrastructure? </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's a perfect scenario for China, because Muslim extremists will be more than happy to take credit. China will lurk in the background, claiming ignorance. Everyone will <i>know</i> their involvement, but it won't matter. The Western media will cover for them, just like they've covered for the Wuhan Virology Lab and the WHO. Joe Biden, if he's still president, will firmly do what he's told by all the monied interests like Nike, the NBA, Hollywood, etc., and deny China's culpability. (And let's not forget that $1.5 billion investment in Hunter's "<a href="http://www.bhrpe.com/list.php?catid=7&page=1">hedge fund</a>"). </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But it's not just China. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The rest of the world, too, has taken Joe Biden's measure and found him wanting. A weak man, years beyond his even-then-limited mental capacity. Feckless, yet stubborn. Committed, like Obama before him, to an American decline that he not only sees as inevitable, but necessary, desirable even. Thus, <b>he has deliberately created an immense and sudden vacuum in the state of global affairs, and <i>nothing</i> could be more dangerous.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Worth remembering: in the early sixties, Khrushchev took Kennedy's measure when they met in Vienna, and that gave us the Cuban Missile Crisis.)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Plans are being hatched by bad people everywhere. China will no doubt send "peacekeeping" troops into Taiwan, annexing it as they have Hong Kong. Iran is casting a malicious eye towards Israel. North Korea? Who knows what they might pull in the face of an America withdrawing from the stage. Even smaller players like Cuba and Venezuela must be considering ways to make mischief. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Not all scenarios will play out, but some will, and the result will be violence and American lives lost, followed by less freedom in the world. Worse, we will not be able to rely on our partners. They are spitting mad over the way we handled Afghanistan and will not readily follow us into the breach next time.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We are entering a very, very dangerous time in human history, one that could have been avoided altogether if not for the ineptitude and moral failings of someone the majority of America willingly voted for. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Joe Biden, the Great Unifier, has become the Great Destroyer.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Pro Tip</b>: buy stock in defense contractors.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 5px;"><br /></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-22575201891312189792021-08-03T14:35:00.003-07:002021-08-04T08:01:25.251-07:00Democrats Have a 2024 Problem<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BMZtGA20cRk/YQlSwUphD4I/AAAAAAAADSo/pC5svVwhXUwZxAR4xBGrzDh2FGFHk88sQCLcBGAsYHQ/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BMZtGA20cRk/YQlSwUphD4I/AAAAAAAADSo/pC5svVwhXUwZxAR4xBGrzDh2FGFHk88sQCLcBGAsYHQ/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Will Joe Biden run for a second term? There have been mixed signals, to say the least.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But <i>can</i> he?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Any reasonable observer understands that Biden's cognitive abilities are declining rapidly. He is being run by committee, behind the scenes. By 2024, who knows how badly things will have deteriorated? Plus, the "Committee" won't get away with hiding him in his basement a second time.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But don't tell the Committee any of this, because their actions suggest they are going for it. How do we know? Because of the constant stream of negative articles about Vice President Harris, clearly leaked from 1600 to Politico and other Dem-friendly outlets.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_DzsuVN0rZI/YQlS6o6lDgI/AAAAAAAADSs/9WWomYQUpnMbwSdOE_L3LdFwx3QFm_iDACLcBGAsYHQ/images-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_DzsuVN0rZI/YQlS6o6lDgI/AAAAAAAADSs/9WWomYQUpnMbwSdOE_L3LdFwx3QFm_iDACLcBGAsYHQ/images-4.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />It's a fascinating dynamic: a U.S. president, or his staff, throwing his own veep under the bus.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What's going on here?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What follows is speculation, but highly plausible nonetheless.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Think back to the primaries. Biden was circling the drain, running an awful campaign, when James Clyburn came to the rescue in South Carolina. He and other party leaders decided nominating Bernie was suicide, so they suddenly rallied around Biden as the safe, anodyne choice. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>But this support didn't come without a price</b>, and that price was a black running mate. The Congressional Black Caucus wanted a way back to 1600, and Biden seemed unlikely to serve two terms. They would only have to wait four, <i>or</i>, maybe even less. If Biden's mental state declined too much, the 25th Amendment could be brought to bear.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Either way, the path back to power seemed clear. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Committee isn't happy with any of this, particularly talk of the 25th Amendment, so they have set out to make Harris unpalatable, and it's been a very effective campaign. Harris's numbers are even lower than Biden's, very unusual for a V.P.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, Harris hasn't helped her own cause. She seems woefully out of her depth, and it's not as if the vice presidency is a particularly hard job. It comes with practically zero actual responsibilities, and yet Harris is widely disliked across the political spectrum, a non-starter to lead a 2024 ticket.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But the Committee is insane if they think they can carry the senescent Biden through another campaign. Should I add he will be 81? Ronald Reagan was 69 when questions were raised by Democrats about whether he was too old to serve.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, if not Biden, and not Harris, <i>who</i>?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, it's early, but it's a fascinating question. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RowXXY1hXww/YQlS9vUCmAI/AAAAAAAADS0/5NsqnaPim3spYVMnPWeWhXp6CWwuOG4OwCLcBGAsYHQ/images-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RowXXY1hXww/YQlS9vUCmAI/AAAAAAAADS0/5NsqnaPim3spYVMnPWeWhXp6CWwuOG4OwCLcBGAsYHQ/images-1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Elizabeth Warren? She will be 75, not to mention she's prickly and unlikeable, no matter how many beers she has (see: Hillary Clinton). </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8bdLx7VBhqY/YQlS_VHjgTI/AAAAAAAADS4/Xivr5IvH4hUBTsid0d0_MDis6-yzSde5QCLcBGAsYHQ/images-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8bdLx7VBhqY/YQlS_VHjgTI/AAAAAAAADS4/Xivr5IvH4hUBTsid0d0_MDis6-yzSde5QCLcBGAsYHQ/images-2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bernie? Not a chance. He will be 82, and party elders won't feel any differently about him next time.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZsJ13RhAc0c/YQlTLU6AUNI/AAAAAAAADS8/qD0Z7gHA7j0nLhOhLvkExVYtBjADFRIcgCLcBGAsYHQ/images-5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZsJ13RhAc0c/YQlTLU6AUNI/AAAAAAAADS8/qD0Z7gHA7j0nLhOhLvkExVYtBjADFRIcgCLcBGAsYHQ/images-5.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bloomberg? He will be 82, and will have no appetite to be embarrassed a second time. It's the links for Mike.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_ta8W0G3hPQ/YQlTM7x_lFI/AAAAAAAADTA/KCFRua-WbeA9ll7EwuGOECzYJ7EMPLSAgCLcBGAsYHQ/images-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="277" height="210" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_ta8W0G3hPQ/YQlTM7x_lFI/AAAAAAAADTA/KCFRua-WbeA9ll7EwuGOECzYJ7EMPLSAgCLcBGAsYHQ/images-3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />How about Buttigieg? I'll give that a maybe. At least he's not a member of the Democrat gerontocracy. But he seems like a lightweight, and does anyone even know he's a cabinet member? (He is.)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Obama years decimated Democrat ranks</b>, having lost nearly one thousand federal and state elected positions. Worse, they were left with near zero moderates. Those remaining lean hard left, and there won't be much appetite for that after Biden's unpopular descent into wokeness. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There are a couple of exceptions. There's Joe Manchin, of course, but Dem primary voters would hate him. Maybe Kyrsten Sinema? But is the country ready for an openly bi-sexual president? You tell me.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In short, this thing is wide open. My bet is that some relatively unknown Dem governor will pull a Jimmy Carter and come out of nowhere, because<i> someone </i>has to be nominated.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Or...</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Senior party members like Chuck Schumer, along with Dem money men, climb the mount and and knock on the Obama's doorbell and beg Michelle to run, explaining she <i>has</i> to to save the republic, particularly if Orange Man Bad is in the picture.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yeah yeah, I know. Political predictions are hazardous for your health, particularly ones three years out, but it's a parlor game, and the Naked Dollar is playing.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Tell me who takes it in the comments.</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-17961997859047370612021-07-19T12:02:00.001-07:002021-07-19T15:44:55.468-07:00CRT Virus Spreads South (and How to Fight Back)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GlfJcui1pLE/YPWP0Dm-ZAI/AAAAAAAADSA/2Z27f57hSXU7L93omVc3yfOQ_73CN2GtQCLcBGAsYHQ/The-Westminster-Schools-Buckhead-Atlanta.jpg17-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1200" height="243" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GlfJcui1pLE/YPWP0Dm-ZAI/AAAAAAAADSA/2Z27f57hSXU7L93omVc3yfOQ_73CN2GtQCLcBGAsYHQ/w392-h243/The-Westminster-Schools-Buckhead-Atlanta.jpg17-1.jpg" width="392" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>The Westminster Schools of Atlanta</b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">To date, the Naked Dollar has focused almost exclusively on New York schools, which might leave the impression that CRT/wokeness is a problem rooted there, or maybe in the liberal northeast.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Think again.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Westminster Schools is the most elite private schools in Atlanta. (Note: Westminster has separate both a boys' and girls' schools, thus the plural "schools.")</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The following is a letter written by <b>Jonathan Bean</b>, a Westminster alumnus and here-to-fore prominent supporter. It is addressed to <b>Keith Evans</b>, Westminster's president and board chair. I am reprinting this letter in the hopes that it will show others how to respond to their own schools, and also to demonstrate that others have the courage to speak up.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Relevant to some of Jonathan's points, it's worth noting that Westminster was founded specifically as a Christian School. Also, I have made some minor edits in the name of brevity.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Join Jonathan, and stop writing checks until this madness has been thoroughly expunged.</span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">Dear Keith,</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">I trust you are well. Recall, we had a call on May 26, a little over six weeks ago. In that call I hope I was clear that I was speaking only for myself and my family’s foundation, not for my wife, her father, his personal foundation, nor for the Woodruff Foundation on whose board he sits.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">Since then, and on June 17, I received Westminster’s DEI Annual Report (<a href="https://westminster.shorthandstories.com/diversity-equity-inclusion/index.html"><span class="s1" style="color: #103cc0;">https://westminster.shorthandstories.com/diversity-equity-inclusion/index.html</span></a>). I read almost all of it and watched most of the videos. I must tell you the relentless focus on black culture is not representative of our school, nor should it be. There is little real diversity in those videos, and I imagine most viewers found the vignettes unrepresentative of the school and disturbing for their relentless focus on something that has little impact on real education.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">I made the following four points with you on our call and feel, based on persuasive evidence presented to me, that these are serious issues which have fundamentally changed the way our school operates, and have all been either initiated or nurtured by you and your administration. These issues are driving a wedge between you and most of the alumni and parents, including myself, which could have been easily avoided. I made it clear to you that should these points not get addressed, I will no longer support the school until such time as they are resolved. The issues are:</p><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;"><b>Intolerance of conservative/Christian views is now the norm at Westminster.</b></span></li><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">Teachers and children should not be able to disparage the sitting President of the United States whether Republican, Democrat, or something else.</span></li><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">Artwork critical of police should not be allowed. The police need to be supported in every way.</span></li><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">Political protests on the part of Westminster’s teachers, administrators, and especially its President is unbecoming and should be prohibited. Your participation in the protests last summer was an act of poor judgement which I find utterly mind boggling for a sitting President of a school who purports to represent the entire school.</span></li></ol></ol><p class="p3" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px 72px;">These efforts to invalidate the legitimacy of our elected officials and to undermine the authority of public servants tears at the heart of our Republic and damages the psyche of young minds in your care. Taking political positions by faculty and staff undermines the legitimacy of the school.</p><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;"><b>The politicization of every academic discipline at the school has affected almost every grade level at the school.</b></span></li></ol><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">Telling all middle school white students they are racists is a <i>lie</i> and psychologically damaging. Watch what happened to this young girl when she was told she was a racist and had “white privilege” - <a href="https://bit.ly/3Bi8edM">https://bit.ly/3Bi8edM</a>.</span></li></ol><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px 96px;">How many Westminster Schools’ students might feel as she does about this lie?</p><ol class="ol1"><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">(Faculty) criticizing the US Constitution should be off limits, especially to lower school students</span></li><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">Staff usage of social media should be kept to a minimum and clear policies should be in place for its use. Violating these standards should be a terminable offense.</span></li></ol><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;"><b>Tribalism/divisive training is actively encouraged at Westminster</b></span></li><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">Affinity groups should be abolished, especially those that actively promote separation by race or (sexual identity) in all its forms. These groups serve no purpose other than to bring discord and accentuate differences between students and should rightly be left at the gate. These affinity groups do not raise kids’ consciousnesses and should not be used to “give them a voice,” as you said.</span></li><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">We should be operating a completely color-blind system at the school.</span></li></ol></ol><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;"><b>Diversity, equity, and inclusion is the mantra of Westminster.</b></span></li></ol><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">When I asked you to tell me the difference between the words “equity” and “equality” you could not. Let me help you with this:</span></li></ol><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px 96px;">From the Milken Institute of Public Health comes this definition,</p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px 96px;"><i>“Equality: What's the Difference? Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. ... Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.”</i></p><p class="p4" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px 96px;">To be clear, the “equal outcome” described above is a Marxist concept. Am I to understand that Westminster is now encouraging Marxism and expects Marxist outcomes? Look up the definition of Marxism if you are confused about any of this. Marxism is anti-capitalist, anti-family and has <span class="s3" style="text-decoration-line: underline;">never</span> worked in any setting.</p><ol class="ol1"><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">We also discussed the word “inclusion” and I made the point that the school is actually <i>exclusive</i> and to say it is anything but, is a lie. You rightly pointed out that only one in four applicants is accepted at the school, so to continue with this inclusion falsehood amongst the students further confuses them and leads to further false logic and damage. My recommendation would be to come up with some other term if you feel you need the students to feel something. How about the word “special”, or “privileged”, the second word often heard in the context of DEI.</span></li><li class="li2" style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">We didn’t touch much on the term “diversity” in our conversation, but I would say the most important thing you can do as an administrator is to promote </span><span class="s4" style="background-color: white; text-decoration-line: underline;">diversity of thought</span><span class="s2" style="background-color: white;">. Diverse opinions hashed out in a classroom are probably the best way to teach young minds, while recognizing that you are teaching in a Christian environment. While Exeter, where I also attended, was not a Christian school per se, we had Harkness tables of no more than 10-12 students who would discuss a topic introduced by the teacher, who would then only occasionally help guide the discussion for the class. I remember well one of my religion classes when the teacher came in and said, “God is dead. Discuss.” Based on the previous evening’s reading, this led to a lively discussion amongst the students and will likely never be forgotten by many there.</span></li></ol><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">In short, it is my belief that whatever pedagogical standards you think is DEI, its relevance for Westminster is misguided and untested. It’s a new concept. Why you think the school would follow this new pedagogy at such an early stage in its development is reckless. Stick with what has worked when it comes to teaching.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">As you know, Westminster has been an historically politically conservative school and to change to a politically liberal one is likely at your peril. Perhaps what you may have been feeling is pushback against our last U.S, President, but I assure you Buckhead is a historically conservative area of Atlanta and without its residents’ support, you will have a more difficult time managing the school.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">More than anything else, you should take a pause from what you are doing. I have read many letters to you and the board from dissatisfied parents and alumni, know of more than a handful who are pulling their children from our school, and think you likely have a near revolt on your hands. Think about this – even in the late 60s and early 70s when the whole world was “on fire,” this did not happen. Do you know why? Inspired leadership from our own Dr. William Pressly. Let that sink in for a moment.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">You often like to say, “We are on the right side of history”. I can tell you categorically that you are wrong. You are on the wrong side of history if you continue to take these various neo-Marxist approaches to educating Westminster’s students. There is no example of a successful communist state based on Marxist principles. It has been thoroughly debunked by every respected economist and I believe you need to go back to the drawing board on this.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">I direct your attention to a recent article in the New York Times - <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/opinion/racism-antiracism-discrimination.html"><span class="s1" style="color: #103cc0;">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/opinion/racism-antiracism-discrimination.html</span></a>. As you can see, even this liberal publication is pushing back against what you and other educators espouse. There have been hundreds of recent examples of articles like this and thousands of examples of severe push back by parents all over the country. I especially recommend you read the following book by Charles Murray, which demonstrates the disconnect between “systemic” racism and the facts - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Facing-Reality-Truths-about-America/dp/1641771976"><span class="s1" style="color: #103cc0;">https://www.amazon.com/Facing-Reality-Truths-about-America/dp/1641771976</span></a>. He describes the blowback that will likely happen if educators like you continue to teach ideas such as Critical Race Theory.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">This all being said, I am heartened that you are starting a “planning process” this summer to develop a “sense of where we are.” I think it important to take a hard look at what you have created, come up with a better solution that meets the needs of an historically conservative school, then implement something that will work for everyone.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">Until the school changes back to something that resembles what it once was, it will not have my support.</p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;">Best,</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"> </p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Jonathan S. Bean</p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Naked Dollar thoughts: I don't agree with one point, the one about prohibiting teachers from protesting on their own time. Such personal views <i>should</i>, however, be prohibited from the classroom. But also note the head of the school couldn't articulate the difference between equality and equity! Click <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/01/critical-race-theory-and-equity-scam.html">here</a> for the Naked Dollar primer.</span></p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p5" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><br /></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-13305649124346900602021-06-24T15:00:00.005-07:002021-06-27T06:36:25.807-07:00All the Lovely People<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PH9pD_pqH20/YNR1hYSU4_I/AAAAAAAADQQ/4YVv7byOSjkeA-Z03mS8A9rsT7L6WwmNACLcBGAsYHQ/cocktail-party-_2502341b.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="620" height="260" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PH9pD_pqH20/YNR1hYSU4_I/AAAAAAAADQQ/4YVv7byOSjkeA-Z03mS8A9rsT7L6WwmNACLcBGAsYHQ/w408-h260/cocktail-party-_2502341b.webp" width="408" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red;">Welcome Instapundit Readers!</span></b></div></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A woman's name came up in polite conversation recently. She runs one of the school boards of which I have been critical of late. That board has been doing a horrible job, a complete disservice to the kids at that school.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">"She's perfectly lovely," I was told by someone who knew her. "Yes, lovely," someone else agreed.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the thing: I'm sure she is. I know many of these people. They're all lovely. Boards everywhere are populated with delightful, successful people who would be wonderful table partners at a dinner party. Politically, they are largely centrists.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">And yet, woke perversities and the insanity of Critical Race Theory are being institutionalized on their watch. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">And it's not just school boards. It's institutions of all kinds - corporations, foundations, NGOs...all of them, really. And, arguably, they are overseeing the dismantling of Western culture, of the Great Experiment. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This is not an exaggeration.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">How can this be?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This is a source of some interest to me, so I decided to talk to a number of people about it. There are several factors at play.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">First, about a decade ago, boards made a laudable effort to diversify themselves. In the process, they got what they asked for, which was not merely skin color diversity but opinion diversity. At least, they <i>thought</i> they wanted that. Or perhaps they thought their new members would smile and keep to themselves, just happy to be there.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Some of the new faces were considerably more radicalized than anyone may have realized. It's also possible they <i>became</i> more radicalized, as was the fashion, post Ferguson, and in particular, post George Floyd. Either way, most boards now found themselves with one or two very different voices in their midst, voices pushing for radical change.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Normally, this wouldn't matter. Boards are usually twenty or more people, and an extremist or two would easily be voted down.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But this time was different.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">You see, if the extremist voices are "of color," it changes the social dynamic entirely. Remember, we are dealing with Lovely People here. Lovely People are virtuous. Lovely People don't make a fuss. Lovely People embrace diversity, and they want to be sure you know that.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So much easier to go along. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Plus, these new advocates for social justice were just so damn <i>passionate</i>. They pushed their agendas with vigor.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This has long been a crucial aspect of the American polity. The left cares about what it cares for more strongly than the right. They write letters to the editor, they go to town meetings. They hashtag <i>ad infinitum</i>. If it's Tuesday, it must be a women's march. Or a climate march. Or a food justice march. (Not kidding, it's a thing.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Conservatives don't do these things. Or rarely, anyway. They get outworked, out hustled, and outshouted.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Many of the radical changes that have happened in our institutions also happened during the Trump administration. This is no coincidence. You see, Lovely People couldn't be seen to be Trump supporters. In places like Manhattan it was social suicide. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Lovely People didn't approve. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, if you stood in the way of these new voices, the others would be on to your scent. They would sniff a Trumpist inside their boardroom walls.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Like I said, suicide.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">There's also the matter of board...comity? No board likes dissension, and they especially don't like it when word of dissension leaks out. Group dynamics create groupthink.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">But lastly, with private school boards, there has been an entirely unique factor at play. Most school board members have enrolled children. Put yourself in their place. Assuming you even had qualms about having your kids labeled "supremacists" and "oppressors," you were all too aware there could be real consequences if you resisted the New Order.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">You see, the administrators and teachers were all enthusiastically on board. Stand in the way of this train and that letter of recommendation to Yale might not have the necessary adjectives.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Don't think they're above it, because they're not.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">You might even have to find another school, and that's certainly a hassle, and it might not be a <i>brand</i>, like Dalton or Brearley, and <i>that</i> will be an issue next time you compare familial notes at the club. <i>So where's Taylor now?</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">So, you see, if you're a Lovely Person, there's just no incentive to raise your hand, no incentive to say, "but wait."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The Lovely People don't get ahead by throwing bombs.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The problem is, as the Naked Dollar has repeatedly pointed out, progressive movements are never sated. The goal posts are always moved. The Lovely People will go along and go along until one day the revolution comes for them.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-51072084496975078822021-06-09T08:50:00.003-07:002021-06-09T10:20:15.747-07:00Next Up: The Trinity School<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf8b5OsIdqs/YMDhUoSZTLI/AAAAAAAADP4/ysNrF6PEiNU887z4iGKOZ6v2gOTpXCzAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s339/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="148" data-original-width="339" height="201" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf8b5OsIdqs/YMDhUoSZTLI/AAAAAAAADP4/ysNrF6PEiNU887z4iGKOZ6v2gOTpXCzAgCLcBGAsYHQ/w393-h201/download.jpg" width="393" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I previously wrote about Trinity College. This is about the Trinity School in Manhattan, another elite private school like Dalton, Brearley, etc. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A year ago, they decided to get in on the "antiracism" bandwagon, like the others. We now know the fruits of their labors.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you haven't been following this space for the last few months, antiracism specifically means judging people entirely by their skin color and setting up a system of reverse racism to make up for America's past sins. It is the practical application of Critical Race Theory, and has nothing to do with simply "not being racist." It is, itself, highly racist.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I have been supplied with the documents involved, and Trinity wins the award for the most heavy-handed problem-solving approach. Apparently, systemic racism is a <i>really</i> big problem at Trinity because they set up a task force with - get this - 188 members and 11 working groups. I think fewer people negotiated the Paris Climate Accords.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Needless to say, that many hammers were going to find a lot of nails. They produced a 17-page document, which, if you're a masochist or just really, really bored, you can read in its entirety <a href="https://online.flippingbook.com/view/292506520/12/">here</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It's the usual nonsense, but let's highlight a few items:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>-Expand the number and type of affinity spaces.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you're not familiar, an "affinity" space is racially segregated. You know, like the fifties. And by "expanding the number and type," Trinity means dividing us into smaller and smaller subgroups based on our skin color or gender (remember there are pushing 100 of those now). Intersectionality comes into play here, presumably. So if you are both, say, genderqueer and muslim, perhaps you get your own space. (I'm thinking that's a pretty <i>small</i> space, but these days who knows.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>-Collect identity data from from student applicants, allowing applicants to self-identify.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, if gender isn't totally up to the individual, why not race, a la <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/13/rachel-dolezal-i-wasnt-identifying-as-black-to-upset-people-i-was-being-me">Rachel Dolezal</a>? Trinity is clearly doing this climb the ladder of intersectionality, but it strikes me as rife for abuse.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>-Create opportunities for students to practice the act of respectful disagreement and of nuanced exploration of orthodoxies.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Excellent words on a piece of paper. Except I am just blown away by the lack of understanding for the very things they advocate. Ibram Kendi, the Grand Poobah of the CRT/antiracism movement, has specifically said that if you aren't "antiracist," you are by definition a racist. Translation: if you don't sign up for CRT's full instruction manual, including dividing our kids by race and by "oppressor" and "oppressed," you are a racist.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, if you're some kid at Trinity who doesn't want to be labelled as an oppressor for things his great-great-great-grandfather may or may not have done, you are a racist. Are you going to raise your hand in class and engage in an act of "respectful disagreement?" </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And as for the "nuance" part, CRT has as much nuance as Joseph Stalin. It is a blunt hammer that allows no deviance from the party line.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>-Undertake an earnest, community-wide exploration of the principles of restorative justice to see if its main principles - of meeting and listening circles, of teaching and learning together about ethical behavior, of deliberate embracing of active empathy and the awareness of the power of mutual care - could make improvements to our current disciplinary model.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Presumably well-educated people produced these words. Interestingly, the closer you get to the academic world, and in particular the progressive world, the worse and more opaque the writing gets. Andrew Sullivan wrote an excellent <a href="https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/our-politics-and-the-english-language-8be">piece</a> about this recently.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I could go on, there's pages and pages, but if you're a Naked Dollar reader, you know the drill. In fairness, the Trinity document is not as militant as, say, the <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2020/12/teacher-demands-at-dalton.html">teacher demands</a> at Dalton. Also, Trinity does not appear to be a client of the odious DEI consultants Pollyanna, so perhaps they won't go down as self-destructive a path as the others. But a breathtaking amount of time went into the document's creation, all so they could come up with ideas like "listening circles."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here are the Perfectly Lovely People on the Trinity Board:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Philip Berney, President
Chair, Executive Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Adrienne Barr, Secretary </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Andrea C. Roberts ’73, Treasurer
Chair, Finance Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Joseph Frank, Vice President
Chair, Audit Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Lisa Kohl, Vice President
Chair, Committee on Trustees </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">David Perez, Vice President
Chair, Development Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jeffrey Scruggs, Vice President
Chair, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Maria Garzon, M.D., Vice President
Chair, Education Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jeff Blau, Vice President
Chair, Facilities Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Serena Moon, Vice President
Chair, Investment Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Igor Kirman, Esq., Vice President
Chair, Law Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">James Deutsch ‘96, Vice President
Chair, Personnel Policy Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Shiva Farouki, Vice President
Chair, Trustee Awards Committee </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">John P. Arnhold ’71 (emeritus) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Joseph Baratta </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Andrew R. Brownstein, Esq. (emeritus) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Lisa Caputo </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Margaret Hess Chi ‘97 </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Rex Chung </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Geoffrey Colvin ’70 (emeritus) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Mahmood Khimji </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Victor “Tory” K. Kiam, III ’78 (emeritus) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jo Ann O. Kruger (ex officio)
President, Parents Association </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">William P. Lauder ’78 (emeritus) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Hugh Lawson </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Emily F. Mandelstam </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Matthew McLennan </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Nicole S. George-Middleton '93 </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Iva Mills </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Janna Levine Raskopf '03 (ex officio)
President, Trinity Alumni & Alumnae Association </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Samuel W. Rosenblatt '78 </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">John Sexton
Benjamin R. Shute, Jr. ’54 (emeritus) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Alyssa Tablada ’89 </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Douglas T. Tansill ’56 (emeritus) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Camille Hackney Thornton </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Robert Wolk </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yadwa Yawand-Wossen</span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-61530922871693291302021-06-08T13:58:00.002-07:002021-06-08T16:42:26.877-07:00Dalton Just Can't Get Out of Its Own Way<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Kscl7Yr5lYI/YL_TnaKvXoI/AAAAAAAADPs/HwIttJDx1ZslfupMvPW2-a9reUI7MuZdACLcBGAsYHQ/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="244" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Kscl7Yr5lYI/YL_TnaKvXoI/AAAAAAAADPs/HwIttJDx1ZslfupMvPW2-a9reUI7MuZdACLcBGAsYHQ/w357-h244/images.jpg" width="357" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Dalton and Jim Best</b></div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I really thought I was done writing about Dalton, but they just can't seem to get out of their own way.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">First, they screwed up in-person classes. Then, there was the <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2020/12/breaking-dalton-school-is-in-full.html">meltdown</a> over faculty demands and Critical Race Theory ("antiracism"). Then their head of DEI was made a sacrificial lamb. Then Jim Best, their headmaster, announced he was "leaving" at the end of the year.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This whole beat, the Naked Dollar's covering the private school woke wars, started with the story of Dalton's misadventures back in December. I didn't do it because I care, particularly, about Dalton. I didn't go there, and I don't live in Manhattan. But I do care about education, and Dalton was illustrative of a broader, deeply illiberal, trend towards the politicization of the classroom. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Dalton was not unique, in other words.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Having said that, it does seem like they go out of their way to be capital of Wokeistan. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A couple of days ago, an anonymous group called Prep School Accountability paid to have mobile billboards park in front of several Manhattan schools, including Dalton (and Brearley, which I have also <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-brearley-school-latest-front-in.html">chronicled</a>). </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One truck said this:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-853_4pcH1SE/YL_GxX1IN0I/AAAAAAAADPc/gc_UaGA5ngIHXBU-QiSRCSALvPkWHBMqgCLcBGAsYHQ/school-billboard-34.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1236" height="212" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-853_4pcH1SE/YL_GxX1IN0I/AAAAAAAADPc/gc_UaGA5ngIHXBU-QiSRCSALvPkWHBMqgCLcBGAsYHQ/school-billboard-34.webp" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Another said...</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-52-myzoNY-4/YL_G0jXmCzI/AAAAAAAADPg/Ip0PRJ3PBDkl9fpl_sfj5pEd-4lOjGT4QCLcBGAsYHQ/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="179" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-52-myzoNY-4/YL_G0jXmCzI/AAAAAAAADPg/Ip0PRJ3PBDkl9fpl_sfj5pEd-4lOjGT4QCLcBGAsYHQ/download.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />For the record, I have no idea who did this. It's interesting, though, because the battle against K-12 indoctrination doesn't seem as lonely as it did a few months ago. People are stepping up. Mostly anonymously, for reasons that are perfectly understandable, but more and more people are willing to come forward and put their names on the line. Soon, we will have what sociologists call a "preference cascade."</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In any case, I knew I could count on the Naked Dollar's old friend Jim Best to give us a response so risible that he make his peers look like mere pretenders. Perhaps Jim's newly acquired occupational freedom has lent him the rhetorical license he craved all along. It's a short note, but there's just so much to unpack.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here's what Jim wrote just yesterday about the trucks, along with my comments (in bold)...</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">To the Dalton Community:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This action is antithetical to what Dalton stands for and negatively impacts the welfare of our children and our community members.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Jeez, really? How is that? Apparently because</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It attempts to create a climate of intimidation and harassment and evokes some of the worst moments in our nation's history.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>We literally just marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, where as many as 300 people were killed and 2,000 homes torched. So, moments like that, Jim? Perhaps words like, "Teach our kids how to think, not what to think" evoke My Lai or 9-11 for you? I'm sorry, you are not a serious person.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We took, and will take, necessary steps to ensure the well being of our students, faculty, and staff.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Did any staffers or kids see the signs? Please tell me everyone's alright!</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At Dalton, we encourage constructive discourse consistent with our values of creating "a climate of respect in which creativity, curiosity, individual risk-taking, and personal excellence are achieved and can flourish." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>It's true. Dalton </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">loves </i><b>discourse, just loves it...as long as it's "consistent with their values," which also include telling you you're a racist if you disagree with those values, and if you're white, you'd better "check your privilege," otherwise known as "shut the f*** up."</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We continue to listen closely to community members who engage in respectful dialogue and work together to help build an educations environment grounded in empathy and compassion.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>This is what all these administrators say. </b><a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-brearley-school-latest-front-in.html" style="font-weight: bold;">Jane Fried</a><b> of Brearley, and </b><a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/04/nyc-private-school-madness-grace-church.html" style="font-weight: bold;">George Davison</a><b> of Grace Church said exactly the same thing. And it's such crap. Why do so many "community" members fear going on the record? Because they know there will be repercussions. And as for compassion, does that include telling minority students they are permanently oppressed? That they should live in a state of perpetual grievance? How is that compassionate?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The tactics we saw this morning are neither dignified nor persuasive.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>No doubt you said the same about the last year of BLM and Antifa street violence...just kidding. Let's face it Jim, it isn't the method that bothers you, it's the message.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">They only redouble our commitment to stand by our mission, our values, and every single member of our community.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Except for those of you who are racists for opposing my agenda, and as soon as I figure out who you are, I will inform Yale.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jim Best, Head of School</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yom Fox, Interim Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><br /></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-27237481739204660312021-05-31T07:48:00.010-07:002021-06-28T19:13:06.113-07:00Et Tu, Andover?<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k0euW21xdP8/YLP-dfcH26I/AAAAAAAADO8/vamDerCfIRc4c_rOiLH9YIp9sPFYtOQLgCLcBGAsYHQ/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="289" height="243" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k0euW21xdP8/YLP-dfcH26I/AAAAAAAADO8/vamDerCfIRc4c_rOiLH9YIp9sPFYtOQLgCLcBGAsYHQ/w368-h243/images.jpg" width="368" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><b>Welcome Instapundit Readers!</b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our nation's most storied and elite schools are increasingly becoming a parody of themselves. What was once a completely proper effort to broaden horizons and become more inclusive has turned into a self-parodying fetish. </span>Our schools are now full fledged participants in the drive to dismantle Western culture. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Lots of people say to me, surely the pendulum will swing back. People are waking up, right?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Think again.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Sometimes, when pendulums swing too far and they become wrecking balls. There's nothing left to salvage. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Someone reached out to me about the board chair of one of the schools I've been writing about recently, telling me she's a "perfectly lovely person." I'm sure she is, most of them are, but "perfectly lovely people" are presiding over the collapse of our culture.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as they say.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Andover, possibly the most prominent secondary school in the country, is fully onboard the woke/CRT/anti-racism train. Their board backs the move entirely, as does the administration and presumably the teachers. Many of the kids do, too, but they're <i>kids</i> and they are only behaving the way Andover says they should.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">It's child abuse.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Not all the alumni and parents are happy, though. I know this because some have reached out to me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>For starters, the board wrote the following t</span><span face="miller-text, serif">o the Andover community (my comments in bold):</span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">To the Andover Community:</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">On behalf of the Phillips Academy Board of Trustees, we acknowledge that this is a profoundly painful time in our country, marked by a series of tragic acts of violence against George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless other Black people in the United States. For those who are hurting, please accept our heartfelt compassion and support. In the face of widespread anger and chaos, we stand together in solidarity for what is right and just.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Breonna Taylor? The police were being shot at by her drug-dealing boyfriend. Tony McDade? Body cams show he was pointing a gun at the police, and he was a murder suspect. A grand jury fully cleared the officers. Ahmaud Arbery? Racism, although the police had nothing to do with it. George Floyd? Horrible, but very swift justice has been served - and zero evidence was ever presented that this had anything to do with racism. </span></b></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The fact is that the data <i>do not support</i> the narrative of the police out hunting unarmed young black people. Most think that thousands are shot every year, when the actual number last year was nineteen. More unarmed whites were shot than that. This is in the context of 10 million arrests.</span></b></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">We reaffirm Andover’s commitment to educate youth from every quarter, and in doing so, preparing students to combat systemic racism in our institutions and our country.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Racism </b></span><b>exists</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> in this country, absolutely, although it is far less prevalent than it used to be. But "systemic" racism? Absolutely not. Read </b></span><a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/03/systemic-racism-big-lie.html" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold;">this</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> to understand why. We are a better country than that. But Andover is eager to join the parade of self-loathing.</b></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Across generations of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents—of myriad races, cultures, and identities—we have gathered over these recent days to grieve, to express outrage and frustration, and to support one another. We have heard and read painful personal experiences shared in virtual gatherings and social media.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">To the Black members of our community and beyond: We see you; we hear you; we are suffering with you. We acknowledge that Black Lives Matter and support the movement.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">When you capitalize "Black Lives Matter," you are not making a generic statement supporting blacks. You are citing a specific movement run by a specific organization, one that is avowedly Marxist and wants to tear down the entire fabric and history of our country, right down to the nuclear family. This is not hyperbole, this is from their own statements and actions.</span></b></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Our 2014 Strategic Plan, Connecting Our Strengths, placed Equity and Inclusion as a central pillar upon which we remain accountable. We must re-examine that pillar, with new context, and ask how Andover can have the greatest impact in the ongoing battle to dismantle systems of racism and oppression.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andover is the most liberal, diverse place imaginable. It is run by progressives for progressives. If they are racist, it's progressives that are responsible. But consider that whites comprise a mere 29.6% of the students, despite being 76% of the U.S. population. Andover's "2021 State of the Academy" offers such demographic options such as "genderqueer," and 49% of the female students identify as one of the following: b</span></b><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">isexual, demisexual, homosexual, pansexual, queer, or questioning. </span></b><b style="font-family: inherit;">72% are feminists. </b><b style="font-family: inherit;">For good measure, 2.6% identify as communists. </b></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The <a href="https://www.andover.edu/people/raynard-kington">headmaster</a> is a black, married gay man and a school parent. The Dean of Students is a married gay woman with four kids who have attended. If a boy wanted to go to class every day in drag, I am assured there would be no objection. There are plenty of fully-out gay kids at Andover and I'm also assured by students that no one makes anything of it. And yet, Andover <i>still</i> feels the need to imagine itself as being part of the systemically racist/misogynist/homophobic American fabric. </span></b></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Andover is proud of its intentional diversity, and while we have made efforts to create an equitable and inclusive community, we know there is more we can and must do. Guided by the Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Board of Trustees and working closely with school leadership, including incoming Head of School Dr. Raynard Kington, Andover will take the following actions:</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The concept of "equity," which very specifically means equal results, is completely at odds with the ideas of meritocracy and excellence, which are things I imagine Andover also claims to care about. (To understand fully what equity means, read <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/01/critical-race-theory-and-equity-scam.html">this</a>.)</span></b></p><ol style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-reset: lo 0; filter: none; list-style: none; padding-left: 1rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">1. Reaffirm the Board of Trustees’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). This will include re-examining the board’s efforts to enhance its own diversity and make changes where necessary, increasing efforts to embrace equity and inclusion in all board endeavors, requiring anti-racism education for all trustees, and extending the charter of the Committee on Equity and Inclusion.</span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <b>Will the white board members resign to protest their own presence? </b><br /></span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">2. Dedicate a task force to establish Andover’s strategic focus on anti-racism. The task force will review recently collected data and feedback from students and campus adults; critically examine current practices, systems, and structures; and analyze results to determine what actions Andover must take to build upon its broad and deep work in equity and inclusion. The task force’s formal charge and membership will be considered by Dr. Kington after his arrival this summer. We seek a report, with recommendations, in the fall.</span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b> Words matter. "Anti-racism" does not mean "not being racist." Anti-racism is the practical application of Critical Race Theory, which very specifically says that the only solution for "systemic" racism is to institute a wide-ranging system of reverse racism (against whites, if you haven't been following along).</b></span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> Assess and deepen the intellectual pursuits of the 2014 Strategic Plan pillar of Equity and Inclusion. Andover will take measure of academic and co-curricular programs, including Empathy, Balance, and Inclusion courses to expand its commitment to anti-racist education. We will build on efforts of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies to embed inquiry of race and ethnicity within the core curriculum.</span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <b>This is the part where the entire curriculum gets politicized by DEI consultants like <a href="https://thenakeddollar.blogspot.com/2021/02/dalton-pollyanna-and-diversity-racket.html">Pollyanna</a>.</b></span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> Expand Community and Multicultural Development (CAMD) initiatives, including support for affinity groups that underpin identity development and affirm students of color. Continue CAMD’s justice series, which examines anti-black and white supremacist ideologies in the criminal justice system, economic and educational institutions, and voter disenfranchisement.</span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <b>So, if your kid is spending half the day studying "white supremacy" and "voter disenfranchisement," what is getting crowded out? Shakespeare? Calculus?</b></span></li><li style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; counter-increment: li 1; filter: none; margin: 0px 0px 2rem 2rem; padding-left: 0px; text-indent: -1.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <b>(The points go on. Trust me, more of the same. I'm truncating this part in the name of brevity.)</b></span></li></ol><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">We will continue to hear one another and expand upon what we’ve learned from the scholars and educators who have engaged with our campus community. We are especially inspired today by the ideas and work of Patrisse Cullors and Ibram Kendi and the perspective of author Robin DiAngelo.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Cullors is an avowed Marxist who has somehow enriched herself since starting BLM, buying millions in real estate. She is <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/05/27/black-lives-matter-co-founder-patrisse-cullors-resigns-amid-controversy/">resigning</a> over the controversy. Kendi says that anytime blacks aren't 13% of an outcome, there is <i>by definition</i> systemic racism. No allowance for other factors like culture, personal choices, random chance, or anything else. Your company doesn't have 13% blacks? Racist. Your town comes up a bit short? Racist. He believes the only solution is reverse racism. Martin Luther King be damned. DeAngelo is a big CRT advocate who wrote White Fragility, pioneering the convenient intellectual mousetrap that white people who object to CRT are themselves, <i>ipso facto</i>, racist.</span></b></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Charting a way forward is the responsibility of every one of us—and needs the strong minds and generous hearts of our campus community and our extended family of alumni and parents. This work is especially crucial for our students, who will apply what they’ve learned on and off campus across a spectrum of urgent societal needs.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Andover has made deep and meaningful progress to date. In these challenging times, Andover must stretch itself in the pursuit of excellence and its mission of achieving knowledge for a greater good.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Again, you cannot pursue excellence and achieve equity at the same time. They are mutually exclusive.</span></b></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Sincerely,</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Amy Falls ’82, P’19, ’21<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">President-elect, Board of Trustees</em></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Gary Lee ’74<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Chair, Trustee Committee on Equity and Inclusion</em></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Jim Ventre ’79<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Interim Head of School</em></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Brainwashing Works</span></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The students also seem on board with all this, other than the closeted conservatives (95.2% of whom say they self-censor). Just recently, four members of the girls lacrosse team resigned as a "direct response to the racism, homophobia, and classism upheld by both the lacrosse program and Andover athletics."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">They called for students to dress in all black to express their solidarity with all those athletes who have felt "othered."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">As day follows night, the Andover administration put out a statement of solidarity.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I don't blame these girls, which is why I'm not naming them. They are perfectly distilled products of their environment, utterly convinced of the presence of racism in the very air we breathe. If they didn't arrive at Andover that way, Andover made sure they got that way.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">As a generation of these students graduates from Andover and other institutions, it will be interesting to see how many choose to give back to schools that <i>told</i> them they were hopelessly racist.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Of note: it was only before the last game of the year that these girls decided to make their statement, having otherwise enjoyed a full season. Presumably the racial makeup of the team was the same for the first dozen games.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Alums and parents: STOP FUNDING THIS!</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">As always, I will finish with the names of the Perfectly Lovely People, otherwise known as the Andover board. These are the people who could stop this blatant divisiveness, but instead choose to promote it.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="rich-text-col__text-col two-col col1" style="-webkit-box-flex: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; flex: 0 1 auto; font-family: miller-text, serif; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: calc(1.75rem); text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none; width: 428px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Amy Falls ’82, P’19, P’21</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" />President, Board of Trustees</em><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" />New York, NY</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Chris Auguste ’76, P’09, ’12</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>New York, NY</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Joseph Bae ’90, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P’21, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>23</strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Hong Kong</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Gil Caffray ’71, P<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>20</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Greenwich, CT</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Robert J. Campbell ’66</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Rockport, ME</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">David Corkins ’84</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Denver, CO</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Patricia Doykos ’82, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>15</strong></strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Alumni Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Titusville, NJ</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Louis G. Elson ’80, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>12, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong>15, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong>17</strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>London, England</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Dr. Keith Flaherty ’89, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P’23</strong></strong><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" />Charter Trustee</em><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" />Cambridge, MA</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Stefan Kaluzny ’84</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>New York, NY</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Dr. Raynard Kington <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P’24</strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Head of School<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Andover, MA</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Dan Lasman ’73, P’06</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Alumni Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Boston, MA<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></span></p></div><div class="rich-text-col__text-col two-col col2" style="-webkit-box-flex: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; flex: 0 1 auto; font-family: miller-text, serif; padding-left: calc(1.75rem); padding-right: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none; width: 428px;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Chien Lee ’71</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Hong Kong</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Gary Lee ’74</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Tulsa, OK</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Chris Leggett ’78</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Alumni Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Duluth, GA</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Tristin Batchelder Mannion ’82, P<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’19</strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Boston, MA</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Stephen Matloff ’91</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Alumni Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" />Alumni Council President<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Los Angeles, CA</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Tammy Snyder Murphy ’83, P<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’15, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>17, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>19</strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>New Jersey</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Tamara Elliott Rogers AA ’70</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Cambridge, MA</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Karen Humphries Sallick ’83, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>14, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>17</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Alumni Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Westport, CT</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">William Tong ’91, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">’</strong></strong>24</strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Alumni Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Stamford, CT</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Yichen Zhang ’82, P’18, ’20</strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>Hong Kong</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Eric Zinterhofer ’89, <strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">P’18, ’19</strong></strong><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /><em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;">Charter Trustee<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;" /></em>New York, NY</span></p></div><div class="editorial__wrapper" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; filter: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 5rem; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="rich-text__text editorial__body" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; margin: 6rem auto 5rem; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px 2.2rem; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; filter: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 2.5rem; text-align: left; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: none;"><br /></p></div></div>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-73769710517702217182021-05-27T13:13:00.003-07:002021-06-12T11:01:41.194-07:00Campus Life, Imitating Art<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0CX74hKLLdg/YK_6ViFdVOI/AAAAAAAADOo/AkZpp1YDoDw5r1MDIuIhHcftOpylFgjnQCLcBGAsYHQ/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="227" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0CX74hKLLdg/YK_6ViFdVOI/AAAAAAAADOo/AkZpp1YDoDw5r1MDIuIhHcftOpylFgjnQCLcBGAsYHQ/w372-h227/images.jpg" width="372" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you haven't read it, there is much in my novel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Campusland-Scott-Johnston/dp/1250222370/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=campusland&qid=1622143732&sr=8-1">Campusland</a>, that was borrowed from real life. Our nation's fatuous universities provide so much raw material.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But, in other cases, things I just made up came to pass. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One plot line in Campusland revolves around a professor who teaches 19th Century American Lit. During a discussion of Mark Twain, a student, in a set up, reads aloud a passage from Huck Finn that uses the n-word. Other planted students feign outrage and march out of the lecture hall, all the while an accomplice films the incident. They post it on social media, blaming the professor.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Will he keep his job? You'll have to read it to find out.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0WYWe_-_exg/YK_6fnS_koI/AAAAAAAADOs/9I-cJC7TBjIWfDHLLZ0vBgVKh2JIjoPqACLcBGAsYHQ/hannah-berliner-fischthal-1.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1236" height="250" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0WYWe_-_exg/YK_6fnS_koI/AAAAAAAADOs/9I-cJC7TBjIWfDHLLZ0vBgVKh2JIjoPqACLcBGAsYHQ/w372-h250/hannah-berliner-fischthal-1.webp" width="372" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Hannah Fischthal</b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Preposterous, right?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just a few days ago, as <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/05/15/professor-allegedly-fired-for-reading-racial-slur-from-mark-twain-book/">reported</a> by Dana Kennedy in the New York Post, a longtime adjunct professor at St. John's University named Hannah Fischthal was fired for essentially the same thing. She read a passage verbatim from Twain. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It had that word. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">She actually warned students first and explained the context and why that mattered. The book, Pudd'nhead Wilson, is actually a statement against racism and slavery.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It didn't matter. Several of her Red Guard wannabe students reported her, saying that just hearing the word caused them harm.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Fischthal, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, was summarily executed. Er, sorry, fired. (Getting ahead of myself again.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Some critics of Campusland thought the satire was too over the top. What they didn't know is that I frequently dialed back reality because I didn't think anyone would buy it, even when presented as satire.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That's how screwed up things are.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Post Script: Twain is now getting banned in many schools and libraries, but this isn't Twain's first go-around with cancel culture. In the 19th Century, he was also banished from many libraries, and also for matters of speech. But what offended people then was his use of a rural patois; Twain wrote how real people spoke in the real world, something groundbreaking at the time. Before Twain, authors were expected to use the Queen's English only. </span></p>Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.com4