Kirn '83: We are stoopid
Author Walter Kirn '83 appeared on The Colbert Report Tuesday night to promote his latest book, Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever. While we certainly don't shy away from poking fun at this goddamn hell hole (sorry, it's exam week...err, month), Kirn's criticisms of Princeton at times bordered on delusional and "WTF?"
Wearing--oddly enough--orange and black, Kirn said that he was miserable and alienated at Princeton. Sure, not everyone is happy here, and there are many things about Princeton that could improve. But then he said things like:
If they put Princeton on the web--if they put those classes on the web--I think people at state schools would feel a little less inferior.
Ouch! Apparently, we're no better than an online university! So if Princeton and other elite instutions are all scams, what should colleges really teach? Colbert, who pointed out Kirn's many hypocrises, asked him towards the end, "What do you want your kids to achieve in college?" Kirn's response:
I’d like them to graduate knowing how to fix an internal combustion engine, get along with people unlike themselves, tell the difference between Iraq and Iran, and understand that the Muslim world is actually divided between Shiites and Sunnis.
First, how many four-year colleges even offer courses in automobile mechanics? Does Kirn want his children to attend vocational school? Why must we all know how to fix cars? Second, while we're not some utopian vision of diversity and integration, we're pretty good: 54% of students on need-based financial aid, 32% minorities, and the last time I checked, no riots to report. And this coming from a man who lives in that beacon of diversity, Montana. Third, I'm pretty sure students at Princeton arrive here already knowing the difference between Iraq and Iran. Fourth, we already know about Shiites and Sunnis. You see, we went to this mythical place called "high school," not to mention that these are things we refer to as "common knowledge."See you at Reunions next week?
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Walter Kirn | ||||
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(image source: amazon.com)