Monday, October 24, 2005

Harvard At War

A really interesting article over at History News Network. The author of a book about Harvard graduates & members participation in the Civil War comments on their connections, or lack thereof, to modern America & American culture and our modern military. The comparison of the centrality of Harvard as a leader in American culture until relatively recently when it's become just a snobby university.
I know that after working at two dot com's in a row both run by Harvard graduates, they don't teach general knowledge or ethics at the school. The willingness of these individuals to toss out the door all semblance of common sense as an intentional exercise called "thinking outside the box" lead to some truly marvelous debacles. The willful denial of the physical laws of the universe was a sight to behold. Followed closely by lies, cheating and theft to close out the joy of the Harvard experience for me. Subsequently, I've worked at two companies, basically well run, where there were incredibly incompetent yet deeply arrogant people. Guess what, Harvard grads to a man. Actually, thinking about it, maybe it's better that Harvard grads aren't flocking into the military since the people who are joining these days are clearly some of the best & brightest.

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