Feb 17 2010
Affluence and Education
The above photo taken in our yard of ivy climbing a live oak got me thinking about the term “Ivy League.” These schools are notoriously prestigious. A place for Richie Rich and other affluent bastards to attend–those lucky guys and gals.
Of course, luck has little to do with attending a Harvard or Yale. Family connections and the benefits of upper-class resources, sure. You might say, however, that luck has something to do with the prosperity of these schools and, by consequence, their students. An argument could be made that the ivy of affluent education climbs upon a mass of work-generated surplus.
Face it. Education is expensive. When guys and gals are in school, they aren’t engaged in resource-generating work. In a sense, they live off the fat of the land. A fat produced and harvested by others.
Advanced education has affluence to thank for its existence. And, almost ironically, the affluent have the less-affluent to thank for the resources they benefit from. For crops don’t grow themselves, goods don’t manufacture themselves . . . etc.
So sure, go ahead a be proud you attended Princeton. But be thankful as well.
