Reply to Serious question: Why are people afraid to admit privilege?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]Is throwing kids into a college way over their heads a good idea[/b]? Heck, is out of state college a good idea for *anyone* anymore? Student loan debt should be avoided at all costs---especially for kids whose families lack assets to bail them out.

Perhaps an apt comparison is the failed home ownership push? While homeownership can produce "wealth", it isn't for everyone. For nearly two decades, the antipoverty movement focused on pushing everyone towards it---ready or not. It didn't go well. Home ownership is a big responsibility, and it's quite costly. Maintaining a home over the course of a mortgage and keeping up with taxes can be impossible for some. It turns out subsidizing rentals is the better investment.

Lastly, the unintended political consequences of such a policy will be big. This is why we have trump. People don't like whatever is perceived as a handout---even otherwise good people. Rather: invest in quality public education, communities, etc. AND make clear that personal responsibility is a "thing" that benefits all of us. The conservatives are outpacing liberals simply behave their policies are built on personal responsibility rhetoric. It matters, for a variety of reasons.

I would love to see us stop taking the easy way out with sweeping policies that don't produce results (like this sat policy). Instead, let's take the more complex approach of actually improving schools, communities and economic and family stability. [/quote]

I think what people are worried about is how this is going to be used.  If it's used as a context around scores it's probably a good idea.  I.e. the (probably truthful) idea that a kid with a 1350 on the SAT from a horrible neighborhood and family situation is more innately takented than a kid with a 1400 from a more advantageous situation.  There could be arguments about what constitutes "adversity" as well, and I'm sure that reasonable people could disagree with some of the criteria selected, but there's some truth in what they're measuring.

What I'm afraid is going to happen is that they're going to build the scores to be a proxy for race so that they can continue with (IMO) failed AA policies if they're shut down by the courts.  This will continue to have the corrosive effect of putting clearly less qualified candidates into institutions where they're unsuited.

I also think the "privilege" argument is a tough one.  A lot of the successful people I see are successful because they're very smart, very hard working and have sacrificed short term gain to achieve long term goals.  While an advantageous family situation can certainly help, it still takes a lot of hard work and effort to be successful.  Most of the people arguing about "privilege" speak in very absolute terms as though everything these people have accomplished was simply an accident of birth.  That's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way.

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