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A wonderful Rorschach test on attitudes towards status and credentialism. Big time columnist lets the veil slip that the key to success is to make sure you don't antagonize those on the top of the heap. splinternews.com/bret-stephens-…
If nothing else, Stephens reveals the myth of the meritocracy. As long as pleasing those on the top of the pile socially is part of the calculation over who gets rewards and who access to these premium positions, we can't say that the people who are in these jobs are "the best"
Reminded me of this part of a recent conversation between @rgay and @tressiemcphd where they point out the obvious, for women and minority voices to join the NYTimes op-ed page, they have to be twice (or more) as good.
If you doubt this, compare the work of Jamelle Bouie and Michelle Alexander pre-Times to that of say...Bari Weiss. Bouie and Alexander are serious thinkers with long track records of interesting and nuanced writing. Weiss is...not.
The structure and systems of these elite spaces gives people like Bret Stephens a trampoline to the top, while others are hauling 200 pound weights up a rope climb.
The POV Bret Stephens writes from (Never Trump conservative) is possibly the smallest constituency inside our politics, and yet they multiply in the public discourse like Gremlins dunked in a hot tub and are afforded great deference. Not hard to figure out why.
There are far more self-identified socialists than Never Trump conservatives and yet they're almost entirely unrepresented on the major op-ed pages. Stephens' email reveals why this will always be the case. Bret Stephens is at the top and his kind is never going to open the doors
If you think that the sin of being rude to Bret Stephens is worse than what Bret Stephens is up to...boy, I don't know.
The gatekeepers are never going to let those outside the gates in. Heed the advice of Bill Murray's character in Rushmore.
