Jeff et al:
Someone (I think Mark Twain) said that Americans are as a group somewhat
anti-intellectual.
We glorify most those who manage to succeed without a higher education - the
myth of the "self made person." People who drop out early from education and
make it on their own. Often those people were indeed mythical - they had
other resources.
Education itself was, about 100 years ago, more closely associated with
privilege than with talent (who went to the Ivies at that time? Rich kids.)
And of course, getting a real education means giving up a lot of childish,
fantastical and wish-fulfilling notions about how life works. Antithetical
to our TV/consumerist/waste your life watching "Survivor" culture.
Sorry for the telegraphic script, but I've got my 90 minute commute to SMC
waiting. Thanks.
Nancy Melucci
East Los Angeles College
