Somewhat off-topic, it’s interesting that Goldberg uses the term “over-educated.” That term has perplexed amd occasionally annoyed me (the occasion being when it’s applied to me) because I’ve never understood how one can have too much education. It often seems to be applied to people who are well-educated but not rich; as if, to use a phrase from the Victorian Era, some peasant has been educated “beyond his station.” And I’ve heard the term used by people of various political persuasions. Anyone got any thoughts on this? Do you find the term “over-educated” useful, and if so, what do you use it to describe?
I’m a Gentile with very friendly feelings for “the Tribe,” one reason for which is because I grew up in an anti-intellectual (and often, not coincidentally, anti-Semitic environment), and Jews were often ridiculed for being smart and bookish, as I was. So I also found it interesting to see Golberg applying “over-educated” to his fellow Tribesmen, and seeing it as a factor in their tendency to be (in current, bastardized
parlance) “liberals.” In that case I would say is not that Jews are “over” educated, but that they are “under” educated in things like sound economics and logic. Also, Jews have a tendency to go to college, and colleges are a big collectivist breeding ground. (That’s not prejudice: I went to college in NYC, as did many of my friends, so I think I know a little about that.)
Finally, it should be noted that while many prominent “liberals” are Jews, so are many libertarians. In fact, if you look at all the founders or philosophical influences on the modern libertarian movement (Friedman, Rand, Rothbard, et al) it seems like the overwhelming majority. Back in the “Gangs of New York” era there used to be a saying about my own Tribe, the Irish, “If it weren’t for the Irish, there’d be no police force, and if it weren’t for the Irish, you wouldn’t need one.” One might be tempted to say, “If it weren’t for the Jews, there’d be no libertarian movement, and if it weren’t for the Jews, you wouldn’t need one.”
Jonah (like me) is not Jewish. His father was, but his mother is not.
Actually, R., “Jonah Goldberg” isn’t even his real name. It was “Scott Carter,” but he changed it for business purposes.
(An old Stanley Myron Handelman joke.)
I read over-educated as over-indoctrinated.
What strikes me is the different styles of argument. More (I did not say only) facts and reasoning on one side, more (I did not say only) self-congratulatory name-calling on the other.
“Jews are liberals because they are good. Unlike conservatives, as we all know.” Never stated but totally implicit in every line.
And what’s with this “America wouldn’t exist without the French Revolution” thing? What’s the chronology again?
Somewhat off-topic, it’s interesting that Goldberg uses the term “over-educated.” That term has perplexed amd occasionally annoyed me
I’ve always understood it as similar to the definition of a “highbrow” — someone educated beyond his intelligence.
Like, say, Vice President Spongebob Hairplugs.
I taked “over educated” to mean having spent so much time being educated the person has lost track of the real world. That is, having so much advanced education that there’s no longer room for common sense.
” That is, having so much advanced education that there’s no longer room for common sense.”
Full of theoretical knowledge(some of it likely mal-information) and lacking the wisdom to sucessuflly apply it.
Like a certain junior Senator from Illinois turned President.
I think of overeducated in a job sense. Namely, someone with a pile of degrees working at a job that requires far less. From an employer’s point of view, that implies an increased risk of leaving the job for better pastures.
“…over-educated…”
It’s in league with being “so open-minded one’s brain falls out”: like Mike Puckett suggests, someone can be so educated that they’re stupid again.
One reason American Jews are on the left is that many right-wing American Jews have gone to Israel.
The good news is that Israeli politics have gotten more sensible.
Somewhat off-topic, it’s interesting that Goldberg uses the term “over-educated.” That term has perplexed amd occasionally annoyed me (the occasion being when it’s applied to me) because I’ve never understood how one can have too much education. It often seems to be applied to people who are well-educated but not rich; as if, to use a phrase from the Victorian Era, some peasant has been educated “beyond his station.” And I’ve heard the term used by people of various political persuasions. Anyone got any thoughts on this? Do you find the term “over-educated” useful, and if so, what do you use it to describe?
I’m a Gentile with very friendly feelings for “the Tribe,” one reason for which is because I grew up in an anti-intellectual (and often, not coincidentally, anti-Semitic environment), and Jews were often ridiculed for being smart and bookish, as I was. So I also found it interesting to see Golberg applying “over-educated” to his fellow Tribesmen, and seeing it as a factor in their tendency to be (in current, bastardized
parlance) “liberals.” In that case I would say is not that Jews are “over” educated, but that they are “under” educated in things like sound economics and logic. Also, Jews have a tendency to go to college, and colleges are a big collectivist breeding ground. (That’s not prejudice: I went to college in NYC, as did many of my friends, so I think I know a little about that.)
Finally, it should be noted that while many prominent “liberals” are Jews, so are many libertarians. In fact, if you look at all the founders or philosophical influences on the modern libertarian movement (Friedman, Rand, Rothbard, et al) it seems like the overwhelming majority. Back in the “Gangs of New York” era there used to be a saying about my own Tribe, the Irish, “If it weren’t for the Irish, there’d be no police force, and if it weren’t for the Irish, you wouldn’t need one.” One might be tempted to say, “If it weren’t for the Jews, there’d be no libertarian movement, and if it weren’t for the Jews, you wouldn’t need one.”
Jonah (like me) is not Jewish. His father was, but his mother is not.
Actually, R., “Jonah Goldberg” isn’t even his real name. It was “Scott Carter,” but he changed it for business purposes.
(An old Stanley Myron Handelman joke.)
I read over-educated as over-indoctrinated.
What strikes me is the different styles of argument. More (I did not say only) facts and reasoning on one side, more (I did not say only) self-congratulatory name-calling on the other.
“Jews are liberals because they are good. Unlike conservatives, as we all know.” Never stated but totally implicit in every line.
And what’s with this “America wouldn’t exist without the French Revolution” thing? What’s the chronology again?
I’ve always understood it as similar to the definition of a “highbrow” — someone educated beyond his intelligence.
Like, say, Vice President Spongebob Hairplugs.
I taked “over educated” to mean having spent so much time being educated the person has lost track of the real world. That is, having so much advanced education that there’s no longer room for common sense.
” That is, having so much advanced education that there’s no longer room for common sense.”
Full of theoretical knowledge(some of it likely mal-information) and lacking the wisdom to sucessuflly apply it.
Like a certain junior Senator from Illinois turned President.
I think of overeducated in a job sense. Namely, someone with a pile of degrees working at a job that requires far less. From an employer’s point of view, that implies an increased risk of leaving the job for better pastures.
“…over-educated…”
It’s in league with being “so open-minded one’s brain falls out”: like Mike Puckett suggests, someone can be so educated that they’re stupid again.
One reason American Jews are on the left is that many right-wing American Jews have gone to Israel.
The good news is that Israeli politics have gotten more sensible.