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I find this piece fascinating. To honor it I offer a tl; dr 1. Author recounts experiences of people lying about their class/wealth at Yale, often feigning les

I find this piece fascinating. To honor it I offer a tl; dr 1. Author recounts experiences of people lying about their class/wealth at Yale, often feigning less wealth. 2. Explains behavior 1 as style, safety, loss-of-perspective, and avoiding social responsibility 3. Retells several incidents where a vocal minority of students at Yale picked and won battles over verbiage (e.g. emails, Calhoun, "Master of college"). 4. Interprets the battles in 3 as at best insignificant and at worst a distraction from real problems of class disparity in America. Contrasts these protests against Vietnam protests. 5. Proposes "American Elites" have no idea what they stand for anymore, are shirking their responsibility, and have no capability to be self-critical for fear of losing belonging in the in-group. 6. Rejects these Yale social movements: "This ideology is filled with inconsistencies and contradictions, because it is not really about ideological rigor. Among other things, it is an elaborate containment system for the theoretical and practical discontent generated by the failures of the system, an absolution from guilt, and a new form of class signaling." 7. Interprets the "inconsistent" Yale protests as an unproductive way for students to avoid guilt of their privilege and distance themselves from failing "legacy institutions." 8. Holds the Yale administration accountable for siding against a "vacuous" student cause instead of their own faculty. Demands more from "an institution older than the Republic" 9. Asks what it means if "Yale dies" and why this matters. Proposes it speaks to a more universal problem. [All that said, I recommend reading the whole thing if you can find the time. This distillation has only a fraction of the value of the whole piece. Many tangential points are very interesting.]

bsder 7y ago
> 4. Interprets the battles in 3 as at best insignificant and at worst a distraction from real problems of class disparity in America. Contrasts these protests against Vietnam protests. I tend to agree. I view the "tempest in a teapot" protests that go after some academic functionary in the same light as I view most of the animal rights protesters--deeply hypocritical. You don't see these college students go after someone with actual power just like you don't see the animal rights advocates throw paint on Hell's Angels for wearing leather. Protest is good--until you you might actually face consequences for your protest. Sorry, protest without consequences isn't a real protest. If the Yale students want to protest, we have an oversupply of things that need to be protested--feel free to join us. But, these might upset people with real power, they might get arrested, they might wind up with a criminal record like the plebeians and that might upset their getting that cushy Goldman-Sachs position in a couple years.
- burkaman 7y ago
  > You don't see these college students go after someone with actual power What a bizarre claim. Protesting their own college administration, and getting arrested for it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/08/arrests-hopkins-protest-over-creation-campus-police-force/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/08/arrests-... Hunger strike, football team strike, and many other protests resulting in university president resignation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_University_of_Missouri_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_University_of_... Protesting the CIA director, who I hope counts as someone "with actual power" - https://upennstatesman.org/2016/04/01/violent-protests-end-the-conversation-with-cia-director-john-brennan/ https://upennstatesman.org/2016/04/01/violent-protests-end-t... I imagine almost every college in the country has had protests against the president: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/11/09/mobs-of-tearful-angry-students-protesting-trump-victory-swarm-campuses/?noredirect=on https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/11/0... Arrested protesting at their state government: https://www.concordmonitor.com/UNH-students-protesting-voting-changes-arrested-at-state-house-25397498 https://www.concordmonitor.com/UNH-students-protesting-votin... Arrested protesting ICE: https://middleburycampus.com/45615/news/two-midd-students-arrested-at-never-again-protest-against-ice/ https://middleburycampus.com/45615/news/two-midd-students-ar... Yale students arrested protesting their administration: https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Yale-students-arrested-protesting-contribution-to-13772559.php https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Yale-students-arrest... Arrested protesting Israel occupation: https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/15-jewish-college-students-arrested-protesting-outside-birthright-offices https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/15-jewish-college-students-a... You can find many more examples with ~5 minutes of research.
- galimaufry 7y ago
  > You don't see these college students go after someone with actual power just like you don't see the animal rights advocates throw paint on Hell's Angels for wearing leather. This is a strange example of inconsequential protest, as the movement against furs was highly successful.
  - parsimo2010 7y ago
kd5bjo 7y ago
> All that said, I recommend reading the whole thing if you can find the time. This distillation has only a fraction of the value of the whole piece. Many tangential points are very interesting. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate all of the little things that get left out of summaries like this to the point that I wonder if they might be harmful. In the time it takes to read a summary, it is also possible to read the first few paragraphs of the article, which should be enough for someone to tell if the writing connects with them. Fundamentally, this is a persuasive piece and its power comes from providing a vicarious experience to the reader of the author’s experiences at Yale. Whether you agree with her conclusions or not, reading this will help you understand the fundamentals of her position much more than a summary. I worry that, by spoiling the ending, this kind of summarization encourages people to only read the piece if they already agree with the conclusion it ultimately reaches. Thus, the people that would gain the most insight avoid exposing themselves to arguments counter to their beliefs and the echo-chamber is perpetuated a little bit more. (Side note to ‘alexandercrohde: I don’t really intend to single you out; I applaud the effort you put into writing this summary, and you achieved what you set out to do. I’ve just had this particular rant growing inside me for a while, and this was the first place it made sense to put it.)
- willmoss1000 7y ago
  Having read the article first I found the summary to be helpful. You are suggesting we remove the summary to prevent people coming to false conclusions? I think actually these summaries help us to have more structured discussions?
  - kd5bjo 7y ago
    It’s not so much about false conclusions as it is enabling tribalism by helping people avoid opposing viewpoints. It’s certainly a trap I’ve fallen into myself a few times: commenting on the general topic without reading the article and arguing against the usual counterpoint instead of the one that was actually made. I haven’t come to any firm conclusions on this matter, so I certainly wouldn’t recommend banning or removing summaries yet. I did, however, want to point out a potential downside of them that I hadn’t seen anyone talking about, so that can inform people’s future decisions to write and post such things.
TomMckenny 7y ago
>4. Interprets the battles in 3 as at best insignificant and at worst a distraction from real problems of class disparity in America. Note however that there is nothing in the article describing economic disparity as a problem. There are laments about social position and altering or eliminating traditions but no hint of criticism of economic inequality. So the claims aren't about inequality, they're about the "wrong" people (in the author's opinion) being rich. In particular, the rich students behavior regarding the culture war. And the author is annoyed that some of the rich students live austere and ascetic lives. But the implication is they should act rich instead to become more worthy of respect. Also the article talks about the energy students devote to racial issues as done merely to avoid social responsibility. But this does not make sense for a couple of reasons: 1) The students described believe there are issues around race and are acting in a way they think will help. So what are the other unstated higher responsibilities are they shirking during their time at University? 2) Walking in protests or wearing cheap cloths only works on people who are literally in physical view. Hiding wealth is done through a Cayman island bank account, that is how one would shirk responsibility. 3) The opinions and behaviors of the minority of students described are extremely rare among the super rich so it's obviously not a very good avoidance technique. Or, by implication, the author signals that the behavior of the Koch brothers or Walton family is more appropriate to the responsibilities of the rich. So honestly, although there is a brief point raised about two wrongful terminations, the article is really just lamenting the culture war and claiming that the students participation in it is wrong minded and fad driven. There is no call that they should be protesting war or helping the poor or anything. Just that they stop taking these stances on culture war issues.
- silvestrov 7y ago
  > they should act rich instead to become more worthy of respect No, the point is that "if you put on a façade for long enough, you end up forgetting that it is a façade"
  - TomMckenny 7y ago
    No, the point is an anti-race equality rant which is intentionally blurring a few anti-elite and anti-dysfunction sounds so it would get published. If it were genuinely anti-dysfunction, it would include much lower hanging fruit like admittance practices focusing on wealth and wrongful terminations. If it were anti-privilege it would focus on that privilege and not on race protest or fads. So yes, in abstraction, if you put on a facade long enough you forget you're wearing it. But that is not remotely the theme of the article. The one and only theme is that racial equality activism should stop on the grounds that it is being done by rich kids
roenxi 7y ago
There are some really interesting ideas floating around in the article and this summary. But I do wonder if the overall interpretation is a little off - the interesting question to me is 'has anything changed'. Particularly 3 and 8 - was there ever a time the administrators were not spineless bureaucrats? I'd like to interpret that in light of 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 as the student body is a lot more organised via social media than it used to be, and suddenly students are capable of imprinting an immature, half-formed culture on the university rather than the university imprinting the elite's culture on the students.

bsder 7y ago

> 4. Interprets the battles in 3 as at best insignificant and at worst a distraction from real problems of class disparity in America. Contrasts these protests against Vietnam protests. I tend to agree. I view the "tempest in a teapot" protests that go after some academic functionary in the same light as I view most of the animal rights protesters--deeply hypocritical. You don't see these college students go after someone with actual power just like you don't see the animal rights advocates throw paint on Hell's Angels for wearing leather. Protest is good--until you you might actually face consequences for your protest. Sorry, protest without consequences isn't a real protest. If the Yale students want to protest, we have an oversupply of things that need to be protested--feel free to join us. But, these might upset people with real power, they might get arrested, they might wind up with a criminal record like the plebeians and that might upset their getting that cushy Goldman-Sachs position in a couple years.

burkaman 7y ago
> You don't see these college students go after someone with actual power What a bizarre claim. Protesting their own college administration, and getting arrested for it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/08/arrests-hopkins-protest-over-creation-campus-police-force/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/08/arrests-... Hunger strike, football team strike, and many other protests resulting in university president resignation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_University_of_Missouri_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%9316_University_of_... Protesting the CIA director, who I hope counts as someone "with actual power" - https://upennstatesman.org/2016/04/01/violent-protests-end-the-conversation-with-cia-director-john-brennan/ https://upennstatesman.org/2016/04/01/violent-protests-end-t... I imagine almost every college in the country has had protests against the president: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/11/09/mobs-of-tearful-angry-students-protesting-trump-victory-swarm-campuses/?noredirect=on https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/11/0... Arrested protesting at their state government: https://www.concordmonitor.com/UNH-students-protesting-voting-changes-arrested-at-state-house-25397498 https://www.concordmonitor.com/UNH-students-protesting-votin... Arrested protesting ICE: https://middleburycampus.com/45615/news/two-midd-students-arrested-at-never-again-protest-against-ice/ https://middleburycampus.com/45615/news/two-midd-students-ar... Yale students arrested protesting their administration: https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Yale-students-arrested-protesting-contribution-to-13772559.php https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Yale-students-arrest... Arrested protesting Israel occupation: https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/15-jewish-college-students-arrested-protesting-outside-birthright-offices https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/15-jewish-college-students-a... You can find many more examples with ~5 minutes of research.
galimaufry 7y ago
> You don't see these college students go after someone with actual power just like you don't see the animal rights advocates throw paint on Hell's Angels for wearing leather. This is a strange example of inconsequential protest, as the movement against furs was highly successful.
- parsimo2010 7y ago

kd5bjo 7y ago

> All that said, I recommend reading the whole thing if you can find the time. This distillation has only a fraction of the value of the whole piece. Many tangential points are very interesting. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate all of the little things that get left out of summaries like this to the point that I wonder if they might be harmful. In the time it takes to read a summary, it is also possible to read the first few paragraphs of the article, which should be enough for someone to tell if the writing connects with them. Fundamentally, this is a persuasive piece and its power comes from providing a vicarious experience to the reader of the author’s experiences at Yale. Whether you agree with her conclusions or not, reading this will help you understand the fundamentals of her position much more than a summary. I worry that, by spoiling the ending, this kind of summarization encourages people to only read the piece if they already agree with the conclusion it ultimately reaches. Thus, the people that would gain the most insight avoid exposing themselves to arguments counter to their beliefs and the echo-chamber is perpetuated a little bit more. (Side note to ‘alexandercrohde: I don’t really intend to single you out; I applaud the effort you put into writing this summary, and you achieved what you set out to do. I’ve just had this particular rant growing inside me for a while, and this was the first place it made sense to put it.)

willmoss1000 7y ago
Having read the article first I found the summary to be helpful. You are suggesting we remove the summary to prevent people coming to false conclusions? I think actually these summaries help us to have more structured discussions?
- kd5bjo 7y ago
  It’s not so much about false conclusions as it is enabling tribalism by helping people avoid opposing viewpoints. It’s certainly a trap I’ve fallen into myself a few times: commenting on the general topic without reading the article and arguing against the usual counterpoint instead of the one that was actually made. I haven’t come to any firm conclusions on this matter, so I certainly wouldn’t recommend banning or removing summaries yet. I did, however, want to point out a potential downside of them that I hadn’t seen anyone talking about, so that can inform people’s future decisions to write and post such things.

TomMckenny 7y ago

>4. Interprets the battles in 3 as at best insignificant and at worst a distraction from real problems of class disparity in America. Note however that there is nothing in the article describing economic disparity as a problem. There are laments about social position and altering or eliminating traditions but no hint of criticism of economic inequality. So the claims aren't about inequality, they're about the "wrong" people (in the author's opinion) being rich. In particular, the rich students behavior regarding the culture war. And the author is annoyed that some of the rich students live austere and ascetic lives. But the implication is they should act rich instead to become more worthy of respect. Also the article talks about the energy students devote to racial issues as done merely to avoid social responsibility. But this does not make sense for a couple of reasons: 1) The students described believe there are issues around race and are acting in a way they think will help. So what are the other unstated higher responsibilities are they shirking during their time at University? 2) Walking in protests or wearing cheap cloths only works on people who are literally in physical view. Hiding wealth is done through a Cayman island bank account, that is how one would shirk responsibility. 3) The opinions and behaviors of the minority of students described are extremely rare among the super rich so it's obviously not a very good avoidance technique. Or, by implication, the author signals that the behavior of the Koch brothers or Walton family is more appropriate to the responsibilities of the rich. So honestly, although there is a brief point raised about two wrongful terminations, the article is really just lamenting the culture war and claiming that the students participation in it is wrong minded and fad driven. There is no call that they should be protesting war or helping the poor or anything. Just that they stop taking these stances on culture war issues.

silvestrov 7y ago
> they should act rich instead to become more worthy of respect No, the point is that "if you put on a façade for long enough, you end up forgetting that it is a façade"
- TomMckenny 7y ago
  No, the point is an anti-race equality rant which is intentionally blurring a few anti-elite and anti-dysfunction sounds so it would get published. If it were genuinely anti-dysfunction, it would include much lower hanging fruit like admittance practices focusing on wealth and wrongful terminations. If it were anti-privilege it would focus on that privilege and not on race protest or fads. So yes, in abstraction, if you put on a facade long enough you forget you're wearing it. But that is not remotely the theme of the article. The one and only theme is that racial equality activism should stop on the grounds that it is being done by rich kids

roenxi 7y ago

There are some really interesting ideas floating around in the article and this summary. But I do wonder if the overall interpretation is a little off - the interesting question to me is 'has anything changed'. Particularly 3 and 8 - was there ever a time the administrators were not spineless bureaucrats? I'd like to interpret that in light of 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 as the student body is a lot more organised via social media than it used to be, and suddenly students are capable of imprinting an immature, half-formed culture on the university rather than the university imprinting the elite's culture on the students.