Stephen Gordon argues that it is a good thing that Canada does not have an ‘elite’ university like Harvard (and, by extension one may presume, no ‘ivy league’ universities at all). His argument, from my brief perusal, is that everyone should benefit from a university education, since it leads to higher salaries, which is why Canada’s socialist centres of higher education all strive for the same bland socialist level: No one excels, and, lo and behold, everyone does well!
The problem with this, of course, is that not everyone is called, by natural gifts and temperament, to higher education. With the dilution-factor of myriads of such individuals streaming to continue their education after the deleterious years in high school, university degrees are rapidly losing any cachet they may have had.
Alas, this is even happening at the hallowed halls of Harvard, where, according to the article, the grade most frequently awarded is an A. Harvard’s own prestige may soon be a thing of the past, with the exception that one must be a near-millionaire to pay their tuition. I suppose going there without a scholarship will at least signify that you’re rich. And as Preston argues, it’s all about signifying.
We may add to this sad state of affairs the onslaught of political correctness in our halls of higher learning, and towing the line on issues as far ranging as abortion, transgenderism, homosexual rights, the ‘consensus’ on global warming, pardon me, ‘climate change’, materialistic and atheistic evolution, postmodernism, feminism, and victimology run rampant. Nietzsche once wrote that the test of a man was how much of the truth he could take, and it seems the modern student can’t take much, with crying rooms, replete with balloons, crayons and hot chocolate (I suppose with the all-too-ironic floating soggy marshmallows), trigger warnings, and the removal from the curriculum material deemed too ‘controversial’ , whoever decides such criteria.
So even Harvard ain’t Harvard anymore, to say nothing of Canada’s bland universities. I am not entirely sure what is left, besides a few centres of Catholic liberal arts education doing what they can to shore up and hand on the truth, which is the only thing that can set you free.
And speaking of the truth, Trudeau is getting a bit of an earful in his cross-Canada tour. Unfortunately, it is mostly about his carbon tax and rising energy costs. Alas. I agree, but it seems Canadians care more about their pocketbook than about the elderly and unborn, whose right to live is up for grabs. Will no one confront Trudeau’s blindness, whether willed or not, on these far-more serious issues?
Should I even mention this? There is a new HBO series called ‘The Young Pope’, starring an ageing Jude Law, who is still young by Pope standards (John Paul II was one of the youngest in modern history, elected at the tender age of 58). It seems the young Pope is uber-conservative, but also embittered, angry, vain, self-centred, power-hungry and borderline-insane. Hmm. The drama-intrigue of this mockery seems sacrilegious even by HBO’s non-existent standards. Vivid, concrete evidence for why I generally avoid television.
And, on a more serious note, pray for the victims in Kyrgyzstan, where a cargo plane crashed into a village in the middle of the night, killing 33, including women and children, as they slept in their homes. One truly knows not the day nor the hour, and, as Our Lord prophesied, we may be taken even from our very beds. That’s one of the reasons an examination of conscience and act of contrition before sleep is a very good idea.
Requiescant in pace.