No Comments! Be The First!
Are the candidates “nice?” Does it matter?
Posted By katie allison granju
A Yale Law School student argues that the Ivy League elite aren’t very nice people:
Of course, top universities accept hundreds of individuals who have demonstrated the highest levels of citizenship. These teenagers have volunteered in more food banks, sponsored more fund-raisers, and lobbied more officials than any previous generation. They earn, rightfully, the gratitude of their communities and the plethora of honors that come with it. Colleges at the top of US News and World Report’s rankings would balk at the notion that these students are anything but the best and the brightest.
I’m not saying different. I’m saying that sometimes some of these students will denounce world hunger but be unfriendly to the homeless. They will debate environmental policy but never offer to take out the trash. They will believe vehemently in many causes but roll their eyes when reminded to be humble, to be generous, and to “do what is right.”
It is these people, though, who often climb America’s ladder of success. They rise to the top, partly on their own merits yet also partly on the backs of equally deserving but “nicer” people who let them steal the spotlight. Before they, or we, know it, they are the politicians and corporate executives subverting the very moral positions they espouse. They are the many figureheads who purport to be leaders even as they embarrass our country.
Watching the race for the presidency, I cannot help but wonder whether our candidates, with their prestigious degrees and impressive credentials, are nice people.
May 5th, 2008
