Suzy Khimm of Mother Jones reads a new study by British economist James Rockey and finds his some of his conclusions "perplexing." Rockey writes:
It would seem that the better educated, if anything, are less accurate
in how they perceive their ideology. Higher levels of education are
associated with being less likely to believe oneself to be right-wing,
whilst simultaneously associated with being in favour of increased
inequality. This result contrasts with those for income: higher levels
of income are associated with both believing oneself to be more
right-wing as well as considering more inequality to be necessary.
And Khimm asks, "What's going on here?"
Answer No. 1, from theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (in Moral Man and Immoral Society):
The reason why privileged classes are more hypocritical than underprivileged ones is that special privilege can be defended in terms of the rational ideal of equal justice only by proving that it contributes something to the good of the whole. Since inequalities of privilege are greater than could possibly be defended rationally, the intelligence of privileged groups is usually applied to the task of inventing specious proofs for the theory that universal values spring from, and that general interests are served by, the special privileges which they hold.
The most common form of hypocrisy among the privileged classes is to assume that their privileges are the just payments with which society rewards specially useful or meritorious functions. … The educational advantages which privilege buys, and the opportunities for the exercise of authority which come with privileged social position, develop capacities which are easily attributed to innate endowment.
"Specious proofs" for "special privileges" and an automatic, almost unconscious rationalization reinforcing self-congratulation. Dismaying. Can anything be done about that?
Answer No. 2, from British economist E.F. Schumacher (in Small Is Beautiful):
Can we establish an ideology, or whatever you like to call it, which insists that the educated have taken upon themselves an obligation and have not simply acquired a "passport to privilege"? This ideology is of course well supported by all the higher teachings of mankind. As a Christian, I may be permitted to quote from St. Luke: "Much will be asked of him because he was entrusted with more." It is, you might well say, an elementary matter of justice.
If this ideology does not prevail, if it is taken for granted that education is a passport to privilege, then the content of education will not primarily be something to serve the people, but something to serve ourselves, the educated. The privileged minority will wish to be educated in a manner that sets them apart and will inevitably learn and teach the wrong things, that is to say, things that do set them apart …
(I cite that Schumacher quote every few months. Sorry for the repetition, it's just one of those things I have to remind myself of even more often than that.)
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In