4 ms·

Parental income is a terrible proxy? The abilities of ones guardians growing up is a huge factor in what opportunities someone is offered and a lot of that is d

by andirk 4y ago

Parental income is a terrible proxy? The abilities of ones guardians growing up is a huge factor in what opportunities someone is offered and a lot of that is dictated by how much money is available for the child. Other aspects like the intelligence, love, care, wit of the parents and child may be larger factors, but that's not something one can quantify on a form.

sokoloff 4y ago
My oldest will be applying to college in 2027. If it would maximize their chances of admission, I could arrange for my 2026 income tax return to show any 5 or most 6 figure sums that I needed. If I really needed to, I could do the same for 2025 as well. Showing a household income of $75K in that year/those years won't change the more comfortable financial situation they grew up in.
closeparen 4y ago
Brilliant and accomplished people don't always pursue wealth. In certain subcultures it's crass, uncouth, one might even say low class to pursue something too practical or employable, to be too interested in material things and conspicuous consumption. These people aren't rich on paper but they are rich in genetics, habits, attitudes, values, vocabularies, media diets - and they raise brilliant, accomplished kids. Affirmative action for high academic performers subject to low family income would be an almost perfectly tailored handout for this cohort. Filtering on parental education level might knock most of them out & get better at targeting kids who outperformed their circumstances in more surprising ways. But is the legibility or surprisingness of the kid's outperformance really the point? I think maybe what you'd want to do is give some slots in the meritocracy to kids who are not outperformers at all, but chosen randomly, without regard to academic performance.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  Is a random selection without regard to academic performance really a "[slot] in the meritocracy"?
PeterisP 4y ago
For wealthy people, the listed income can be arbitrarily changed if there is a motivation to do so. If having low income benefits their kids admissions to Harvard, then this year the family business will issue no dividends and rather just loan money to the owners, and the CEO compensation will be temporarily adjusted to $30k/year.

by andirk 4y ago

sokoloff 4y ago

My oldest will be applying to college in 2027. If it would maximize their chances of admission, I could arrange for my 2026 income tax return to show any 5 or most 6 figure sums that I needed. If I really needed to, I could do the same for 2025 as well. Showing a household income of $75K in that year/those years won't change the more comfortable financial situation they grew up in.

closeparen 4y ago

Brilliant and accomplished people don't always pursue wealth. In certain subcultures it's crass, uncouth, one might even say low class to pursue something too practical or employable, to be too interested in material things and conspicuous consumption. These people aren't rich on paper but they are rich in genetics, habits, attitudes, values, vocabularies, media diets - and they raise brilliant, accomplished kids. Affirmative action for high academic performers subject to low family income would be an almost perfectly tailored handout for this cohort. Filtering on parental education level might knock most of them out & get better at targeting kids who outperformed their circumstances in more surprising ways. But is the legibility or surprisingness of the kid's outperformance really the point? I think maybe what you'd want to do is give some slots in the meritocracy to kids who are not outperformers at all, but chosen randomly, without regard to academic performance.

sokoloff 4y ago
Is a random selection without regard to academic performance really a "[slot] in the meritocracy"?

PeterisP 4y ago

For wealthy people, the listed income can be arbitrarily changed if there is a motivation to do so. If having low income benefits their kids admissions to Harvard, then this year the family business will issue no dividends and rather just loan money to the owners, and the CEO compensation will be temporarily adjusted to $30k/year.