Henry, William. In Defense of Elitism. New York: Anchor, 1994: 138

The problem in contemporary America is that our awareness of life's capriciousness has translated into guilt whenever things go well. The mass media and the political tactics they have bred (lobbying, demonstrations, press conferences, and photo opportunities) have made us all much more aware of the disadvantaged. We have responded not just with compassion, but also with deep self-doubt. Winners no longer feel they have a right to exult in their victories. Losers no longer feel so responsible for the depth of their defeat, regardless of the facts of the case. Self-proclaimed victims of society have lost sight of the proportion of their fate that reflects free will. Too often, people who grasp that they are not responsible for certain aspects of their problems decide that they can legitimately be irresponsible about every aspect of their problems. Just as often, their betters are prone to let them do so and to commiserate over the sad results.

Carl Gutierrez-Jones,

Department of English

University of California

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

E-mail: carlgj@humanitas.ucsb.edu