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IMO, the post #Bretbug commentary has been pretty good at interrogating what's going on underneath beyond the fact that Stephens is a thin-skinned hypocrite. The discussions of power have been especially useful.
As a lot of folks have noted, Stephens was convinced of his own power in CC'ing the provost. He believed his status conferred some kind of juice that held sway in the world. It's obnoxious, but I think it's part of a larger system of elites.
I immediately thought of Amy Chua defending Kavanaugh, using her privileged status as a Yale law professor, while denying that her daughter was even eligible for a clerkship, followed by daughter getting a clerkship. This is a mindset immune from broader social consideration.
It's a world unconstrained by ethics that nonetheless uses rhetoric that invokes ethics to shield themselves. Stephens' fallback on elimination rhetoric in comparing humans to bugs (laughable stretch) is an example. Chua clearly believes her status makes what she decides right
Beyond the character defects these folks display, if nothing else it reveals how ill-equipped they are to be conscious and careful observers of the world. The elitism has rotted their brains and their souls. They cannot see the world as it is any longer.
It's a problem when these folks hold so much sway in the culture.
What does it mean when folks who have been able to divorce themselves from considerations of ethics are the chief public purveyors of what is or should be ethical? David Brooks, anyone?
Reaching a high status positions doesn't mean one automatically loses their acuity or sense of ethics. Jamelle Bouie has the same job as Stephens at a much younger age and is 10x the thinker and he doesn't seem to be having these problems. How does one survive the meritocracy?
Or more importantly, how are the rest of us going to survive the meritocracy?
I lived a good deal of my early years in meritocracy adjacent spaces, but was never quite smart or driven enough to fully join in. I often feel like a dodged a bullet, though I also probably short-circuited some of my own potential because of a lack of ambition.
If I had been invited in, I'd like to think that I'd have survived character intact, but I'm not convinced of this. I can understand how the power could be seductive, and exercising it irresistible.
