This article gives me the willies and I can’t exactly articulate why. I think this “luxury beliefs” theory is based on his interactions with Yale students. Yes they are privileged, but more than that, they are 18-22 years old. I’m not surprised that any group of 18 year olds dont understand the importance of stability, let alone ones who have probably not experienced instability.<p>But the tone of the rest of the article smells of a certain kind of conservative smugness that it is your individual responsibility for improving your own situation. This is absolutely correct but he discredits “community leaders” and students who “had little in common with others other than how they looked” and specifically calls out defunding the police. So it is somehow also about race, and policy decisions.<p>Just say “I don’t like poor people.” I’m one of the good ones. I made it, so can you. If you didn’t make it, it’s your own fault. Well your parents’ fault but it’s your fault now. Race has nothing to do with it, other than the fact that I’m bringing it up a lot. Don’t organize. Don’t make policy. Stop complaining about the police.
It takes a real galaxy brain to look at the parents of Yale students and focus in on two-parent stable families as the key element, not wealth or inequality.<p>For reference, Yale has the least poor students in the Ivy league.
Interesting stats to keep in mind: nearly 75% of prisoners had absent fathers (including live-in absenteeism), this number is nearly 90% for homeless communities members.
I'm pretty liberal. I also had an experience somewhat similar to the person in this article, although not as extreme. I grew up in a very dysfunctional and unstable home, which was very unhealthy, and even so I got into a top prep school and then Harvard...<p>...but I dropped out of Harvard, in part because of health problems that were delayed consequences of extreme neglect and an unhealthy home life.<p>My take on things is this. When you are the "exception," people talk a lot about how you should Just Get a Good Education, and then you can escape all this. You may get a scholarship to a good school, but that's it. Abuse in the home? That's your problem to deal with. Parents poor and overwhelmed? Screw those parents, we're abandoning those parents, we <i>only</i> care about their kids, and <i>only</i> if they're such prodigies that they can succeed in spite of the other numerous obstacles.<p>Here's the thing. I've known several prodigies from challenging backgrounds who got into great schools. Many of them had a lot of problems because of physical and mental health issues caused by their upbringing and environments. Some of these problems interrupted or curtailed their educations.<p>By contrast, I've also known people who had safe, stable homes, and long-term affordable housing. These folks were always able to further their education. But smart, educated folks with chaotic and abusive home lives were not always able to make it to happiness and stability.<p>Saying education will fix all woes is a cop-out. It's a way of uplifting a few show ponies and leaving everyone else in misery. Speaking as a former show pony. If you replace "two parent household" with "safe, stable, healthy home" I agree with what he's saying. I would also add healthcare. My knowledge of calculus did not help me as a young person when I was injured and had no money for physical therapy. Only socialized medicine would have helped me. Education is great, but it's not a substitute for a functioning society with a safety net.