Comments by "Deborah Freedman" (@deborahfreedman333) on "Fareed: The idea of meritocracy is under siege" video.
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When your culture pushes for education, you'll do better in an educational environment. When I went to UCLA in 1976, I noticed most of the southern campus students (where STEM disciplines were taught) were Asian and Jewish. We were self selecting for those more difficult majors. Other groups took softer majors. It didn't take much money to get into UCLA, it took intelligence. There were a few members of other minorities at the start, but because half of the freshman class was flunked out, most of them weren't around by the second year. I've been told much of that has changed, in order to promote equality. But, it doesn't seem fair. If parents work with their children from an early age, and those children then do well in academics, all that hard work should be rewarded. The loss of our meritocracy hurts our ability to compete in the world. Equality should mean all have the chance to do well, but they must put in the work. It should not mean students who do badly should be given a pass because of their color. You don't see a bunch of short Asian guys on a basketball court . Why should schools for excellent students take mediocre ones?
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