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Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

bloomberg.com

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Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#11

Post by kolbe »

somat wrote: post #4

I like to joke that sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between the mafia and the government, they both demand you give them money in return for protection. Which is why the government goes after the mafia, they hate the competition.

This is basically the opening scenes of Goodfellas.

Henry Hill : [narrating] All they got from Paulie was protection from other guys looking to rip them off. That's what it's all about. That's what the FBI can never understand - that what Paulie and the organization offer is protection for the kinds of guys who can't go to the cops.

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#12

Post by mikeg8 »

soneca wrote: post #9
somat wrote: post #4

I like to joke that sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between the mafia and the government, they both demand you give them money in return for protection. Which is why the government goes after the mafia, they hate the competition.

Omer Moav mentions in a recent Econtalk episode how you can say that the emergence of the state in human society can be considered the transition from road bandits to organized crime. https://www.econtalk.org/omer-moav-on-the-emergence-of-the-s...

Listened to that episode yesterday and was about to recommend as well, it was fascinating.

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#13

Post by nobodyandproud »

The author seems to have an axe to grind.

> The need for diversity in education is as vital today as ever. But it’s not clear whether the Ivy Agreement’s ban on athletic scholarships actually promotes that end. One might even wonder whether, by not competing over sports stars, the schools are reducing the diversity of their student bodies.

Yet later admits:

> But recent research tells us that fielding a great team predicts higher alumni giving only to the athletics department. And a 2005 study found little connection between on-field success and giving, at least among those alums who regularly attended sporting events.

Higher education became corrupted with money from athletics and I wish more schools took note of:

> In the Ivy Group Agreement, the universities defend their ban on athletic scholarships as part of a general policy “that the players shall be truly representative of the student body and not composed of a group of specially recruited athletes.”

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#14

Post by mikeg8 »

Hate the headline as it downplays the terror and brutality that cartels inflict on the people of Mexico. Nobody is holding a gun to a football player head and forcing them to play for Harvard.

Is there price fixing going on? Probably. But I don’t have very much sympathy for student athletes who had to pay full price to go to an Ivy league school… I’m sure they had more opportunities in life than the cartels give they people the rule over.

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#16

Post by noobface »

mikeg8 wrote: post #14

Hate the headline as it downplays the terror and brutality that cartels inflict on the people of Mexico. Nobody is holding a gun to a football player head and forcing them to play for Harvard. Is there price fixing going on? Probably. But I don’t have very much sympathy for student athletes who had to pay full price to go to an Ivy league school… I’m sure they had more opportunities in life than the cartels give they…

Just because the term is used to describe groups of organizations participating in price fixing activity doesn't mean all groups performing price fixing are equal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#17

Post by khazhoux »

mikeg8 wrote: post #14

Hate the headline as it downplays the terror and brutality that cartels inflict on the people of Mexico. Nobody is holding a gun to a football player head and forcing them to play for Harvard. Is there price fixing going on? Probably. But I don’t have very much sympathy for student athletes who had to pay full price to go to an Ivy league school… I’m sure they had more opportunities in life than the cartels give they…

> Hate the headline as it downplays the terror and brutality that cartels inflict on the people of Mexico

The word "cartel" is not exclusive to the criminal Mexican organizations.

> I’m sure they had more opportunities in life

But that reasoning applies to academic scholarships too. Every single person smart enough to get into a top school, will have more opportunities throughout life.

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#18

Post by stametseater »

mikeg8 wrote: post #14

Hate the headline as it downplays the terror and brutality that cartels inflict on the people of Mexico. Nobody is holding a gun to a football player head and forcing them to play for Harvard. Is there price fixing going on? Probably. But I don’t have very much sympathy for student athletes who had to pay full price to go to an Ivy league school… I’m sure they had more opportunities in life than the cartels give they…

1. Cartel is a technical term which the article is using correctly.

2. Renaming the technical term would not do anything to help the victims of drug cartels (in Mexico or otherwise.) That would be textbook slacktivism.

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#19

Post by ElevenLathe »

mikeg8 wrote: post #14

Hate the headline as it downplays the terror and brutality that cartels inflict on the people of Mexico. Nobody is holding a gun to a football player head and forcing them to play for Harvard. Is there price fixing going on? Probably. But I don’t have very much sympathy for student athletes who had to pay full price to go to an Ivy league school… I’m sure they had more opportunities in life than the cartels give they…

The article doesn't mention the Mexican drug cartels at all. Maybe you're just not aware, but the word cartel has a meaning outside of organized crime and the drug trade. OPEC, for example, is a cartel of oil producing states.

Re: Ivy League Schools Sure Look Like a Cartel

#20

Post by [deleted] »

mikeg8 wrote: post #14

Hate the headline as it downplays the terror and brutality that cartels inflict on the people of Mexico. Nobody is holding a gun to a football player head and forcing them to play for Harvard. Is there price fixing going on? Probably. But I don’t have very much sympathy for student athletes who had to pay full price to go to an Ivy league school… I’m sure they had more opportunities in life than the cartels give they…

[deleted]
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