On 1/3/2011 10:42 AM, Warp wrote:
> Darren New<dne### [at] sanrrcom>  wrote:
>> andrel wrote:
>>> I can only assume that you put quotes on "elite" to show that you
>>> actually don't mean the rich but the people with the best training.
>
>> I read "elite" as meaning "people who actually are better."  Like the NFL
>> football players are elite, usually not only because they got better
>> football training.
>
>    That's what I meant. Some people *are* more intelligent than others,
> some people *are* more competent than others, some people *are* physically
> more proficient than others, no matter how "unfair" that might feel. Rather
> than trying to shut down these "elite" people, the system should try to
> benefit from these individuals so that the whole society gets some benefit
> (usually in the form of progress).
>
And, as I pointed out, this is not necessarily *always* the rich people, 
with good schools. Or, are you honestly going to tell me that Paris 
Hilton is better off with all that money, and, as nightmare as it is to 
contemplate, opportunity for schooling, but some brilliant kid in a 
shitty school, who will probably resort to joining a gang some place, 
and running drugs, shouldn't even be given any chances?

Often "elite" doesn't mean better, it just means, "more privileged".

A good example of this was a post recently on a thread touching on 
similar things. His father *invented* nearly everything he ever used on 
the farm (since he didn't have the money to just buy equipment), he 
taught himself everything he knew, had almost no education, no chances, 
and started with no money. He ended with less land than you could live 
off of, government subsidies, no education, and *almost* no money. His 
kid had a few more chances than he did, because most of his money when 
to helping that happen. Had he been lucky enough to have had money, and 
gotten into college, odds are the guy would have ended up in 
engineering, or something. He wasn't stupider than his kid, he just had 
shit chances, no opportunities, and no money to find them, oh, and, at 
that time, no help from anyone *to try*.

This is pretty much what you get among "everyone" in the "bottom of the 
bucket", unless someone else steps in and provides an out. And, not all 
of them make enough, or the luck of remaining healthy, out of debt, 
etc., so their kid has better chances than they do. These people could 
have been "elite" too. Probably more people than we imagine could be, 
but the moneyed (not the same thing) don't want the competition, and 
other people have other excuses for not helping them at all.

-- 
void main () {

     if version = "Vista" {
       call slow_by_half();
       call DRM_everything();
     }
     call functional_code();
   }
   else
     call crash_windows();
}

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