Credentials aren’t a measure of intelligence
I never picked up much of an accent down here, much less one like Trae Crowder‘s, but the stereotype is familiar. People think it makes southerners sound stupid and uneducated. Then again, I’ve met P.E.s (professional engineers) who were useless and Ph.D.s who were clueless. Other people think rich means smart. Donald Trump and Elon Musk think so. About themselves.
For some perspective, remember that Peter Navarro, the voluble former Trump economic adviser, promoter of the “Green Bay Sweep,” is from Cambridge, Mass. and attended Harvard. He was convicted Thursday of contempt of Congress. The jury found “Navarro guilty of two counts of contempt for refusing to testify before the House Jan. 6 committee and turn over subpoenaed documents.” Jurors deliberated just four hours (and may have taken a break for lunch). His defense called no witnesses. Navarro swears he is “willing to go to prison” to fight his conviction.
Navarro is the second Trump associate convicted for contempt along with Steve Bannon.
Crowder attended Tennessee Tech. He ponders why the country’s international reputation is in the toilet.
Just getting into a cover story in The Nation about the culture at McKinsey consultants. Whistleblower Garrison Lovely notes that having McKinsey on your resume marks one as a “smart, competent person” when it should brand you as amoral and “willing to do almost anything for almost anyone” for money.