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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWall Street Journal editorial says America was better under white rule
There are a lot of problems in Washington, D.C these days, but not many solutions to them. Inefficiency, an allergy to cooperation, and stiff resistance to pragmatism have all ground the federal government to a stand-still. But one op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal knows what the real problem is: not enough rich, white men.
In Saturdays paper and online, author Joseph Epstein mourns the collapse of what he describes as the genuine ruling class, drawn from what came to be known as the WASP establishment, (WASP, the commonly-held acronym for White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant). Instead, he argues, we are living in a meritocracy, governed not by an elite subset of the uppermost crust of society but rather by a group of people who overcame some kind of adversity and achieved success thanks to their own merits, not based on what family they were born into. This, according to Epstein, is a tragedy.
Epsteins embrace of white privilege (or is it power?) is almost too transparent, resembling something closer to satire than to outright racism. And yet he gives no reason to believe that he isnt completely serious when he argues that modern day corruption, scandal and incompetence are hallmarks exclusive to this new era of non-white rule. Or when he memorializes the virtues of keeping those not born into the WASPocracy away from the halls of power. Or when he faults the leadership of the countrys top colleges for its role in ending white rule by lessening the number of legacies automatically admitted, and using racial preferences to encourage the enrollment of blacks.
Instead, Epstein argues, we should return to an era of WASP rule. Why? Because rich, white men born into rich, white christian families would never lead the country astray:
"A financier I know who grew up under the WASP standard not long ago told me that he thought that the subprime real estate collapse and the continuing hedge-fund scandals have been brought on directly by men and women who are little more than greedy pigs (his words) without a shred of character or concern for their clients or country. Naturally, he added, they all have masters degrees from the putatively best business schools in the nation. Thus far in their history, meritocrats, those earnest good students, appear to be about little more than getting on, getting ahead and (above all) getting their own. The WASP leadership, for all that may be said in criticism of it, was better than that."
http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/12/21/3098361/wall-street-journal-bemoans-end-white-rule-united-states/
Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)the stupid burns.
idwiyo
(5,113 posts)It was a stroke of a genius governorship. Both times. No doubt about that.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)lpbk2713
(42,766 posts)WSJ is part of the Murdoch propaganda machine.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)even realize what those Wasp's would call HIM? Even Nixon called Henry Kissinger a nasty epitet for Jew behind his back.
Mike Nelson
(9,966 posts)...if I had any left.
JPZenger
(6,819 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)We can read their elitist rag -- and talk about it on the Internets.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)because rich white men are ALWAYS honest
madinmaryland
(64,933 posts)Yes Indeed!
Skittles
(153,193 posts)I believe they have to be sociopaths to not give a damn how they wreck America as long as their pockets get lined
lordsummerisle
(4,651 posts)former9thward
(32,077 posts)I have the Saturday, Dec. 21 edition in front of me and their are two editorials. One is on Obamacare and the other is on Bloomberg's final speech. Dishonest headline.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)I can't access their site since I'm not a subscriber, but a Google search turned it up and said they could not access it.I think WSJ has all of their content behind a pay wall.
former9thward
(32,077 posts)December 21st WSJ editorials: Obama Repeals ObamaCare
The 'Labor-Electoral Complex'
Opinions
Josh Tavlin: A Short Guide to Company Christmas Giving
RAYMOND ZHONG THE WEEKEND INTERVIEW
Andrew Haldane: The Banker Who Cried 'Simplicity'
PEGGY NOONAN DECLARATIONS
The Most Memorable Words of 2013
I looked online and the WASP article is filed under "Essays" in the Weekend edition. They are not editorials and not even opinion pieces.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)not exactly the same as an editorial, but not different enough to make it "dishonest".
former9thward
(32,077 posts)Op-eds are opposite the editorial page and I listed them in post #15. This was in a completely different section of the paper called the Weekend Review and is listed as an "Essay". For the OP to call it an editorial is like calling a letter to the editor an editorial. An editorial gives the position of the paper. So yeah it was dishonest.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)I bet ol' Epstein just loves President Obama. What a damn whiner Epstein is.
GeorgeGist
(25,323 posts)WillyT
(72,631 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)I guess it all depends on what he means by "leading the country astray".
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of our government officials are......WHITE.
Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)That's kind of the idea of democracy.
sibelian
(7,804 posts)Dogwhistles no good anymore.
malaise
(269,157 posts)that scumbag Murdoch
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)"if I had the power to do so, I would wish homosexuality off the face of the earth, because I consider it a curse, in a literal sense."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Epstein_(writer)
Orsino
(37,428 posts)...and bullshit like this is promoted.
Orrex
(63,224 posts)I imagine I'm not alone in that experience, either.