A Yale law student, writing for the Washington Post, notes the obvious: successful people (such as Yale Law School students) aren’t always nice. In fact, they’re frequently jerks. What confuses her, though, is that even those who have community service, social awareness, and activism coming out the wazoo are often rather shabby people in everyday life.
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 fundraisers 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 U.S. 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.”
These folks, she continues, rise to the top while shoving the genuine nice guys aside. Her analysis ends with this, “I wonder if our society is crippling itself by subjecting its youths to an almost-Darwinian college selection process.”
Since this young lady has no idea how to analyze the problem, the metastatic overlords have asked me to explain. Formerly, the problems of the world were thought to consist in the fallen or sinful nature of man. Consequently, virtue consisted of loving God and loving one’s neighbor, the last consisting of charity toward those one encountered. This required a constant struggle in the soul and the help of God’s grace, and even then, man’s condition could only be resolved through grace in death.
The contrasting, modern view is that the problems of the world a result of poor organization and a lack of knowledge. With enlightenment and education man can, through world-immanent action, induce a metastatic change that will solve the problems that plague existence. Consequently, virtue consists largely of holding the right political and social ideas and seeking to have them implemented.
