- Description
Three conversations about American education and the proposed revisions to the system. A conversation with Ted Forstmann of Forstmann, Little & Co. about his significant donations to help the educational system in the U.S.
- Keywords:
- education
- Ted Forstmann
- philanthropy
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Everett Williams 10/30/2008 12:55 AM Report
There is a consistent theme amongst even the most liberal of your guests, and that is that people of wealth are important, that they must have incentives, etc., etc., ad infinitum. Why is it that people of wealth are so often considered so consequential, so important, when most of what we see that they do is cause damage. Why not provide incentives for people who are actually working on the things that we need in the various scientific and engineering and production areas. It has been my experience that those who end up leading are those who cannot produce, and they are the ones who accumulate wealth, because that is where their concentration is. Everything in their field of vision concerns money and the power that it provides. Yes, they turn to more philanthropic things as they age and are pushed out of positions of real influence, but that should not buy them out of the damage they have caused in their careers.
Take your guest here, Mr. Forstmann. He has been "right" about several major occurrences in the markets and finance areas over some years, to no particular effect other than the fact that he has become obscenely rich. He also has all the trappings of wealth, the trophy women, the conspicuous and public consumption, and so on and so forth. So, he has taken on a couple of South African children and works on his education project. He's just another shark who is mostly worried that a black man will take away his play toys. He hasn't ever given a dime to a Democrat of any variety, and he was an early supporter of one of the most despicable of Republicans, Phil Gramm of Texas, and before that Arthur Laffer, Mr. Wrong on everything in economics except making rich people richer. With such a sterling record of basic self interest, why should we listen to a word this man has to say at this point in time. He is putting as much money as he can into McCain, a man who knows nothing about economics, but can be influenced by the likes of Forstmann. This man is disgusting and a sample of the type of people who should be in jail for life rather at your table providing us bits of self-serving wisdom.