Today is the anniversary of the second moon landing, by Apollo 12, in 1969. The mission's commander was Charles "Pete" Conrad. It so happens that Conrad attended Haverford prep school in Pennsylvania and was a classmate of my father. Haverford expelled him after the 11th grade, whereupon he attended and graduated from the Darrow School in New Lebanon New York which happens to be the same school from which I graduated after being expelled from Andover.
According to his Wikipedia page, Haverford expelled him because he was dyslexic and flunked his exams. According to my father, however, they expelled him because he stole the chaplain's car and drove it into a pond. That would presumably be the Duck Pond on the Haverford College campus next door. (Don't sue me for libel, I acknowledge that is second hand.) Conrad went on to graduate from Princeton and then to the moon. I went on to graduate from Swarthmore and then to Providence. Oh well.
I tell this tale mainly because it reminds us that our fates don't necessarily get locked in by youthful indiscretions -- at least not if we meet certain criteria. I always tell my undergraduate advisees not to lose sleep over small stuff, including a B, which some of them seem to think is a life-ending event. But there are lots of kids who end up in juvenile detention if they steal a car, and their lives really are over. What's the difference between them and Conrad? You know.
Just something to think about.
Update: If you read the above post you will see that the very point I am making, the precise reason why I wrote the post, is to point out that Conrad and I were relatively privileged. To respond by saying "Aha! Gotcha! You're privileged." is denser than a lead brick. I am not, however, nearly as privileged as, say, your hero Donald J. Trump, who was was given a million dollars by his father, lost it all, got bailed out by his father, lost it all again, got bailed out again, then started making his living by laundering money for Russian gangsters.
Oh yeah. My degree required me to pass qualifying exams in politics, and to take several doctoral level political science courses. I am a professor of health services, policy and practice. I have a masters degree in policy which also required me to take courses in politics, and I minored in political science as an undergraduate.
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8 comments:
You were extolling in an earlier post that you were just salt-of-the-earth...that you had construction jobs and really "knew how the working class lived". And yet here you are saying that you graduated from Swarthmore and then went to Providence, both elite, ivy-league and very expensive universities.
Growing up, I didn't even know anyone that went to private schools either prep or universities. I guess my idea of "working class" is totally different than yours.
You're the East Coast elitist I had always suspected you to be.
Oh for chrissake. I only published your comment because it is so ridiculous. For several years after I graduated from Swarthmore I worked at low paying jobs, including having a construction business. Eventually I got a professional job in Boston, when I was about 30. Providence college is actually not Ivy League, nor elite, it's a small Catholic school, but I never went there. I am a Brown University professor, a fact of which I make no secret and in fact it is posted in the sidebar. I'm completely open about my background and my current position.
"East Coast elitist" is a catch phrase used only by idiots.
"The annual list price to attend Swarthmore College on a full time basis for 2017/2018 is $68,846 for all students regardless of their residency. This fee is comprised of $50,424 for tuition, $14,952 room and board, $1,336 for books and supplies and $398 for other fees.
Don't get me wrong...
I'm not ragging you because your parents may have had some money, gave you good guidance or that you went to private expensive schools. Good for you.
I'm ragging you because you think you've got your finger on the pulse of the average American voter and from your background and your posts posts, you clearly don't.
You're still an idiot. I graduated in 1978 and I had a scholarship. Almost nobody pays full tuition at Swarthmore or other well-endowed private schools. At Brown we have need-blind admission. Nobody is excluded because they can't afford to pay. I also had a scholarship at Andover. My parents were not wealthy.
I don't know what the "pulse" of the average American voter means but I don't think that being uneducated actually makes you more knowledgeable. I think expertise should be respected, not scorned. Trying to argue that I know less than you do about social policy because I have a Ph.D. in social policy is ridiculously perverse. And by the way I spent two years as a community organizer in poor and middle income neighborhoods. I didn't spend my whole life going to school.
I'm sick and tired of your moronic comments.
I think that if Dr Porkenheimer has his finger on the pulse of the average American voter, then it's a damn shame that more Americans don't become educated. Dr Porkenheimer doesn't seem to be. I think he and his fellow average American voters should vote Democratic, so that they can get a tuition-free education. It's not too late.
Republicans don't want anybody to get an education. They respect ignorance.
Uh ... Shitler got a LOT more than a million from his papa Fred ...
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/trumps-small-loan-from-his-father-was-more-like-60point7-million-nyt.html
The privilege element is true, but... The privilege level required for such antics is getting higher every year while the official meritocracy is getting ever more strict. The son of a rich man could survive the incident and get admitted to a new school but his odds of becoming an officer these days are about zilch.
Things are also quite different vis a vis private schools. Need-blind has become a hollow term. Harvard could pay everyone's full tuition at the Ivy's from a fraction of the interest on its endowment. Yet, strangely, it offers comprehensive scholarships to a shrinking pool and rejects others with "admit/deny" financial aid offers.
End stage capitalism is amazing.
"End stage capitalism"
Kind of off topic, but:
Out of curiosity I looked in my old copy of Luther's Small Catechism, first published 490 years ago, and would like to repeat his explanations of the last six commandments. The entire book was his attempt to explain Christian doctrine, as he understood it, in the simplest possible terms so that every person could understand it.
In the interest of brevity I'm omitting the "Thou shalt not..." from each commandment, and the "We should fear and love God that we may ..." from each of Luther's explanations.
5. Kill -
Not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need.
6. Commit adultery -
May lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each love and honor his spouse. ("his" - Luther was remarkably non-sexist for his time, but this was the Middle Ages after all.)
7. Steal -
Not take our neighbor's money or goods, nor get them by false ware or dealing, but help him to impove and protect his property and business.
8. Bear false witness against thy neighbor -
Not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, nor defame our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.
9. Covet they neighbor's house -
Not craftily seek to get our neighbor's inheritance or house, nor obtain it by a show of right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.
10. Covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbors's.
Not estrange, force, or entice away from our neighbor his wife, servants, or cattle, but urge them to stay and do their duty.
By updating a few nouns in the original with terms more appropriate for today, like 'significant other', and making it gender neutral these explanations still work.
(Note that Luther slips in positive recommendations implicit in the prohibitions of the original.)
End Stage Capitalism doesn't understand anything here that it doesn't positively reject.
I think you nailed it mojrim!
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