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Article: What's wrong with idealism? (Column)
- Article from:
- Newsweek
- Article date:
- January 16, 1995
- Author:
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IN A PRIVATE AUDIENCE WITH CURRENT AMERICAN RHODES scholars at Oxford University last May, President Clinton urged us to battle the cynicism that threatens the American political system (not to mention his presidency). A journalist asked one of my classmates how the audience reacted. "People approved," she said. "But after all, he was preaching to the converted. We've already shown that we believe in idealism. That's part of the reason we're here."
She was right. In America, where idealism is the yardstick used to judge a generations collective virtue, Rhodes scholars are its masters. They are chosen as much for their public-spirite for their academic prowess. Not ...