> Even at the high end things seem rather grim. My sister-in-law
> graduated from Harvard in June '06 and reports that her fellow
> students were an intellectually uninspiring bunch. They're hyper-
> coached, machined little achievement products, but not what you'd
> think of as an intellectual elite.
The most disturbing trend, IMO, is the "hyper-coached, machined little achievement products." Upper middle class American parents have ground into an entire generation -- and in a way that I suspect is unprecedented -- that athletics, academic and artistic achievements, civic involvement, etc. are to be viewed primarily as means to getting into a top tier college, which is the only path to upper middle class comfort.
It was getting really bad when I graduated from high school in the late nineties, but judging from the stories I've heard from my younger cousins who are still in high school, it's gotten a lot worse in the last ten years.
-WD