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I don't know that this can be addressed without a revolutionary change in how prestige is divvied out in society.
And in fact it may not be desirable for Americans in particular. You could have a system with less de jure social mobility if you make it noble to be on the lower rungs of society and create other games one can play to get prestige.
In Japan, age owes respect to the degree that there's negotiation to be had on who is owed deference if you are the young boss of an old employee. This and other such norms that reward mastery of even the lowest jobs makes all out elitism acceptable when it comes to schooling. But can Americans muster the discipline and ethno-cultural loyalty that such a system requires?
I'm here reminded of a pair of documentaries I saw about Japanese prisons. Prison is yet another solution to ugly reality that one's society must cope with justifying. The Japanese system is setup under the idea that criminals are deviant antisocial elements that must be reeducated into society, and it takes the form of a work camp where every minute of your time is dedicated to hammering pro-social habits into your mind like a soldier's drill. Complete with slogans you have to recite and beatings if you don't do what you're told properly.
The first documentary I saw was made by French television about such prisons, and it depicted a system that is opaque and produced some abuses, but engaged positively with the general idea of the prisoner's life being regimented to a totalitarian degree if that allowed successful reinsertion in society.
The second one was made by American television, and pictured the very concept of this reeducation as an insult to one's human dignity.
My point is then this: is America's infatuation with individual freedom, self made men and the "American dream" not categorically incompatible with dealing with the reality of such problems pragmatically? Is it not morally preferable to the American that everyone is given the same chances and elitism is nominally crushed even if that allows elites to deny a sense of noblesse oblige? Can American nationhood imply enough collective loyalty to shun the need for handouts in the name of Civil Rights?
Other than the beatings, some of the “social communication” classrooms for severely autistic kids are already rather like those prisons.
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