Excellence

Uncritical egalitarianism poses a threat to excellence, seen by democratic

man as an easily removable cause of envy and exclusion.

Excellence in education is not only a way to staff the economy, but would also allow
society be enculturated and live up to the ideal in Aristotle’s noble ideal about the
educated use of our leisure.

From China to France, every country that is or aspires to be developed has an

elite educational stratum, aimed at taking the most gifted students and giving them
the best intellectual training possible. In China this is done from an early age, with
special schools for the brightest children. In France the system of superior
universities, entry to which is fiercely competitive. The aim in all cases
is to enhance the best in order to gain the highest quality in science, engineering,
law, national administration, medicine and the arts.

Few could dispute with the rationale behind this, except those who believe that
universal mediocrity is a price worth paying for social equality. Yet, there is a risk that
meritocratic means of cultivating excellence will not suffice, if money and influence
become extra criteria. Money and influence govern social advancement in many, if
not most, countries around the world, even if meritocratic requirements still apply: in
America, money is required to achieve social benefits, while in China it helps to be a
Party member.

The wealthy and well-connected are not the type of elite that an education system
should nurture. Popular newspapers and populist politicians are quick to use the
term "elite" in a derogatory way to connote these elites of injustice; however, they
are equally quick to complain if doctors, teachers, or athletes playing for national
teams fall short of our highest expectations - if, in short, they are not elite in the
proper sense of the term.

Although there are few if any actual democracies in the world — most regimes
claiming that title are elected oligarchies - the democratic spirit pervades Western
life, for better or worse. The good comes from the pressure to treat everyone fairly;
the bad comes from the pressure to make everyone alike. This latter is a tendency for
leveling, a downward thrust that despises quality because it produces mountains
where the negative-democratic spirit prefers to see only lowlands. Yet, democracy
should not seek to reduce people and their achievements to a common
denominator; rather, it should strive to get them as close to an ideal as possible. And
it includes, among other things, having the best and most demanding educational
institutions.