Buried in the paragraphs of treacle is an important point about supposed "meritocracy": "Having been a good student, no matter how good the reputation of the s

Buried in the paragraphs of treacle is an important point about supposed "meritocracy": "Having been a good student, no matter how good the reputation of the school—and most of the good schools, we are coming to learn, are good chiefly in reputation—is no indication of one's quality or promise as a leader. A good student might even be more than a bit of a follower, a conformist, standing ready to give satisfaction to the powers that be so that one can proceed to the next good school, taking another step up the ladder of meritocracy." I don't think it's necessary to wax nostalgic about the heyday of WASPism to recognize this, though.