I noticed that, too. I guess the point was that she had an unequal shot at Harvard or Princeton. But it looks like the system worked reasonably well in her case

I noticed that, too. I guess the point was that she had an unequal shot at Harvard or Princeton. But it looks like the system worked reasonably well in her case. It could have done worse. It's also sort of heartening that the military is a kind of leveler. No one looks down on military service, at least, I think most people consider it a plus (it's hard to start a sentence with "no one..." that doesn't have some exception, somewhere). So the military could potentially be a step stone to better things. The problem with societal ills like inequality is that most of them can't ever really be solved. Can you imagine a perfectly equal society? I can't. But liberalism requires some suspension of disbelief. Too much realism breeds cynicism, and cynicism allows intractable problems to get even more intractable.