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On 6/18/14 1:35 PM, Mark Lause via Marxism wrote:
The problem comes when we buy into that meritocracy stuff or, worse, the notion that some institutional connection means merit.
I got a big laugh about 15 years ago when George Rupp, president of Columbia at the time, gave a presentation to IT on the university's new drive to re-establish itself as Number One in NYC. The talk used Powerpoint slides to show how it was faring against NYU. I am sure you could have heard the same kind of pep talk at Hertz when it was trying to fend off Avis.
At a certain point, Rupp honed in on the prestigious hires that had been finalized, including John Roemer who was a "leading Marxist". Could NYU top that?
Back in the 1950s, I used to love Scrooge McDuck comic books. In one story, Scrooge is in a competition with an Indian rich guy (clearly anticipating the world of today) as to who could mount a more impressive display of his wealth.
In the final panel, Scrooge pulls away a curtain that was concealing a diamond-studded top hat like the one he wore. The Indian laughed, "Is that all you got, a measly hat?" At that point, Scrooge pulled a lever and the entire work came into view. It was a 50 foot edifice of Scrooge covered in diamonds. This made him the clear-cut winner.
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