[BretLudwig]

((I'd still, all things being equal, prefer a German medical or engineering
(particularly mechanical or civil) education over an American one.
Bret.))



The American vs. German Education Paradox

My new VDARE.com column on Charles Murray's recent article "The Age of
Educational Romanticism" offers a new partial explanation for the triumph
of educational romanticism among American K-12 educators while their
counterparts in Europe and Asia remain hard-headed about differences in
academic potential. Obviously, race plays a big role here, but even more
overlooked is the paradoxical influence of the triumph of our exclusive
American colleges.

To summarize the reality under the rhetoric:

American higher education today -- ultra-elitist Social Darwinism
masked by politically correct rhetoric

German higher education -- leftist egalitarian mediocrity

American lower education -- leftist egalitarian mediocrity

German lower education -- hardheaded realism about human differences

Elitist continental European universities were largely emasculated by
sincere leftism after WWII, especially after 1968, so, today, they have
dropped far down in world prestige rankings. In contrast, just about the
only famous American college to destroy its exclusiveness in response to
1960s radicalism was CCNY. All the other elite colleges (e.g., Berkeley),
merely bought off minority radicals with affirmative action and actually
increased their elitism in admissions for non-affirmative action
applicants. But, as they became more Social Darwinian overall, they became
more politically correct in their public expressions, with disastrous
effects on the poor saps running the K-12 system in America, who were too
thick to get the joke.

It's a complex argument, so Read the Whole Thing."

http://isteve.blogspot.com/2008/06/a...n-paradox.html

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