A bit on FBI Priorities

One thing that strikes me as odd in the recent kerfuffle over people falsifying entrance exam scores and bribing coaches to get into elite schools is the simple fact that really, people were not hurt that badly, and it was simply a nouveau riche way of doing what old money has been doing for over a century--getting children admitted by making a large donation.  Really, the main difference is that the old money is making much bigger donations, and is making them openly.


So what ought to be done about this?  As I see things, the big deal is that very successful parents of children of lesser motivation or ability want to provide for their children, but they know that the estate tax precludes giving them a large inheritance.  Hence they must get a "certificate of success" from a school meaningful to their peers.  It won't do if little Bobby or Jane go to community college and then transfer to a second tier school; no, to achieve their goals, they've got to go to a place like USC, Stanford, or Yale.    So the old strategy--train children of lesser ability to handle inheritances well--has been replaced by sending them to more elite schools.


The second thought here is that college matters too much, and that's brilliantly illustrated by the jobs for which college used to be optional.  The building trades, acting, music, secretarial work, and a lot more used to be handled in apprenticeships.  Perhaps if we returned this training to that level, college would return to a more normal level of importance.


Finally, there is the reality today that to really "make it big", apart from playing sportsball, singing, or acting, it really helps to reach the higher levels of organizations, and our society is structured, sadly, to promote the interests of those big organizations--inside and outside of government.  To get to those higher levels, it helps to have graduated from a "premium" college.  Solution?  Maybe we cut back the size of government and stop granting corporate welfare and see where life takes us.


What should not be done; further FBI investigations.  Quite frankly, doing this instead of investigating Hilliary Clinton's server, Lois Lerner's actions at the IRS, and the like makes a mockery of justice.  Let's get the open and shut things first.