Short Essay on "Bring on the Elites!" by Joel Stein
Link: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2010191,00.html
Everybody wants to be the best. Whether that’s in sports, academics, or otherwise, mostly everyone wants to be part of the elite. One may debate that someone with a prowess for football who becomes a star NFL quarterback may be considered elite, while another may say that a person with stellar grades who goes on to be a world-renowned doctor is considered so, but that ultimately depends on that person’s definition of the word. When it comes to the academic elite, they’re usually the ones who graduated from the top universities. In the article Bring On the Elites, Stein argues for elitism saying that “Antielitism is a cancer waiting to metastasize in any democracy…” and in turn, makes an argument that the elite shouldn’t be frowned upon just because they’ve succeeded.
According to Stein, “…the academic elite don’t bring up stuff like this often, because the income gap between [them] and everyone else had ballooned grotesquely, and [they] feel bad about it.” The truth is, the best and brightest are going to be the ones that succeed, and they shouldn’t feel bad about that. But what about the nonacademic elite? They don’t have to get into the best college, but if they do get into one, it could be from a sports scholarship or an unusual musical ability or something along those lines. Stein states that those types of people have come to believe that anyone can do anything and we’re all equally skilled. This may be a generalization and therefore not totally true, but he does make a valid point. The concept that we’re all equal convinces the public that if someone isn’t smart or doesn’t try but is talented, they can still succeed in this world. Students need to realize that just because they are an amazing hockey player, doesn’t mean that they can make it into the NHL. Not to say there aren’t exceptions to this, there are people who get into great colleges or do very well for themselves
Everybody wants to be the best. Whether that’s in sports, academics, or otherwise, mostly everyone wants to be part of the elite. One may debate that someone with a prowess for football who becomes a star NFL quarterback may be considered elite, while another may say that a person with stellar grades who goes on to be a world-renowned doctor is considered so, but that ultimately depends on that person’s definition of the word. When it comes to the academic elite, they’re usually the ones who graduated from the top universities. In the article Bring On the Elites, Stein argues for elitism saying that “Antielitism is a cancer waiting to metastasize in any democracy…” and in turn, makes an argument that the elite shouldn’t be frowned upon just because they’ve succeeded.
According to Stein, “…the academic elite don’t bring up stuff like this often, because the income gap between [them] and everyone else had ballooned grotesquely, and [they] feel bad about it.” The truth is, the best and brightest are going to be the ones that succeed, and they shouldn’t feel bad about that. But what about the nonacademic elite? They don’t have to get into the best college, but if they do get into one, it could be from a sports scholarship or an unusual musical ability or something along those lines. Stein states that those types of people have come to believe that anyone can do anything and we’re all equally skilled. This may be a generalization and therefore not totally true, but he does make a valid point. The concept that we’re all equal convinces the public that if someone isn’t smart or doesn’t try but is talented, they can still succeed in this world. Students need to realize that just because they are an amazing hockey player, doesn’t mean that they can make it into the NHL. Not to say there aren’t exceptions to this, there are people who get into great colleges or do very well for themselves