{"id":3834,"date":"2026-07-30T09:39:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T09:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834"},"modified":"2026-07-30T09:39:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T09:39:57","slug":"straight-as-empty-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834","title":{"rendered":"Straight As, Empty Minds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

One of the most revealing statistics in modern education has nothing to do with reading scores, mathematics proficiency, or scientific literacy. Instead, it concerns grades. According to Hannah Frankman Hood, writing for Daily Economy<\/em>, roughly half of all students graduating from American high schools now receive an A average. At first glance, this sounds like extraordinary success. Upon closer examination, however, it raises a far more troubling question: if nearly everyone is exceptional, what exactly does \u201cexceptional\u201d mean anymore?<\/p>

Read more Trump is Right: Americans Should Embrace AI Data Centers<\/a><\/p>\n

Now place that statistic beside another observation. According to an article by Nate Silver titled \u201cThe DSA Sweet Spot: Highly Educated, Downwardly Mobile,\u201d support for democratic socialism is disproportionately concentrated among individuals who possess college degrees but relatively modest incomes. In other words, many of the strongest advocates for socialism have accumulated years of formal education without acquiring the economic success that higher education has traditionally promised.<\/p>\n

Viewed independently, each statistic is noteworthy. Viewed together, they paint a disturbing portrait of an educational system that increasingly rewards appearance over achievement while producing graduates who possess credentials without corresponding competence. The result is not merely poor education. It is the cultivation of economic misunderstanding and political ignorance.<\/p>\n

Grade inflation represents more than generous teachers handing out easy As. It fundamentally changes the relationship between effort and reward. Historically, grades served as signals. They communicated mastery of difficult material and distinguished extraordinary performance from average work. Employers, universities, and society relied upon those distinctions because they conveyed meaningful information.<\/p>\n

When half of all graduates receive the highest possible mark, that signal becomes almost meaningless. Excellence has been democratized not by raising performance but by lowering standards. Students learn that praise can be detached from accomplishment. Success becomes something awarded rather than earned.<\/p>\n

That lesson does not remain confined to the classroom.<\/p>\n

Economic life operates according to very different rules. Customers reward businesses that satisfy their needs. Employers compensate workers according to the value they create relative to alternatives. Investors allocate capital toward productive enterprises. None of these systems function through participation trophies or inflated evaluations. Markets relentlessly distinguish between genuine competence and superficial credentials.<\/p>\n

Many graduates encounter this reality for the first time only after receiving their diploma.<\/p>\n

For decades, students were promised that college represented the guaranteed pathway to prosperity. Borrow heavily. Earn the degree. Success will follow. When reality proves more complicated, disappointment naturally follows as well.<\/p>\n

This is precisely where Silver\u2019s observation becomes particularly significant. Many advocates of socialism are not the least educated members of society. Quite the opposite. They are often highly credentialed individuals whose economic expectations have collided with reality.<\/p>\n

That collision invites two possible conclusions. The first suggests their own skills, educational choices, or understanding of economic reality require reconsideration. The second blames capitalism itself. Modern higher education encourages students toward the second conclusion.<\/p>\n

Rather than examining supply and demand, labor productivity, regulatory barriers, licensing restrictions, inflation, monetary policy, housing constraints, or the countless factors influencing wages, far too many academic environments present inequality as evidence of systemic exploitation. Economic outcomes are seen as moral verdicts instead of market signals.<\/p>\n

Students who have spent years receiving inflated grades are especially susceptible to this narrative.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\nIf an educational system has repeatedly assured someone that they are exceptional, disappointing outcomes require explanation. The easier explanation is not that the educational system oversold their preparation. It is that society somehow fails to reward their brilliance.<\/p>\n

Socialism provides the most emotionally satisfying answer.<\/p>\n

It preaches that unmet expectations do not result from poor incentives, distorted educational priorities, or insufficiently valuable skills, but from an unjust economic system. Success becomes evidence of privilege. Failure becomes evidence of oppression. Government redistribution becomes the tool for correcting perceived injustice.<\/p>

Read more The \u2018No Borders\u2019 People Can\u2019t Understand Why An Islamist Ran The Queers Down With His Car<\/a><\/p>\n

The tragedy is that many universities increasingly reinforce this misunderstanding rather than challenge it.<\/p>\n

Higher education once emphasized intellectual humility — the recognition that reality exists independent of personal beliefs. Students learned economics, history, logic, statistics, philosophy, and scientific reasoning precisely because these disciplines disciplined the mind. They taught students to test assumptions against evidence rather than emotions.<\/p>\n

Today, students are likely to graduate fluent in fashionable political vocabulary while remaining unfamiliar with basic economic principles such as incentives, opportunity cost, spontaneous order, capital formation, or entrepreneurship. It is entirely possible to earn impressive grades while remaining economically illiterate.<\/p>\n

This helps explain the paradox of highly educated individuals embracing ideas that have repeatedly failed wherever they have been extensively implemented. Socialism promises equality through centralized control while consistently producing shortages, stagnation, diminished innovation, and reduced individual liberty. These outcomes are not historical accidents. They flow directly from removing the incentives and decentralized decision-making that make productive economies function.<\/p>\n

Yet graduates unfamiliar with these economic realities often encounter socialism first as a moral aspiration rather than as an institutional system with a well-documented historical record.<\/p>\n

The educational failure is twofold.<\/p>\n

First, schools increasingly substitute inflated evaluations for rigorous assessment. Students receive the impression that they possess exceptional abilities even when objective measures frequently suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n

Second, many educational institutions increasingly replace genuine inquiry with ideological instruction. Instead of teaching students how to analyze competing economic systems, they frequently teach them which conclusions are socially acceptable.<\/p>\n

Students leave believing they are extraordinarily capable while lacking the analytical tools necessary to evaluate political claims critically. When reality contradicts their expectations, they naturally gravitate toward ideologies that validate their preconceptions rather than challenging them.<\/p>\n

A truly successful education would produce precisely the opposite outcome. It would demand rigorous standards instead of inflated grades. It would cultivate intellectual inquiry instead of self-esteem detached from accomplishment. It would teach students to distinguish intentions from incentives, rhetoric from results, and promises from performance.<\/p>\n

An A should signify mastery, not attendance. A college degree should represent genuine preparation rather than expensive certification. And political beliefs should emerge from disciplined reasoning, not institutional indoctrination.<\/p>\n

When half of graduates receive As while increasing numbers of degree holders embrace economic ideas that consistently fail the tests of history and human nature, the problem is no longer merely educational. It is civilizational. A society cannot preserve liberty if its schools reward illusion over excellence and ideology over understanding.<\/p>\n

The classroom should produce informed citizens capable of independent thought. Instead, it too often produces graduates carrying inflated transcripts, diminished expectations, and political philosophies that promise to redistribute prosperity rather than explain how prosperity is created in the first place.<\/p>\n

Jim Cardoza is the author of <\/strong><\/em>The Moral Superiority of Liberty\u00a0<\/strong>and the founder of LibertyPen.com. Read more of his essays there.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>

Read more RIP Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, co-author of The Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot, an intellectual heat-seeking-missile to the left<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most revealing statistics in modern education has nothing to do with reading scores, mathematics proficiency, or scientific literacy. Instead, it concerns grades. According to Hannah Frankman Hood, writing for Daily Economy, roughly half of all students graduating from American high schools now receive an A average. At first glance, this sounds like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,100],"tags":[1553],"class_list":["post-3834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-education","tag-related-topics-education-socialism"],"yoast_head":"\nStraight As, Empty Minds - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Straight As, Empty Minds - Interstate Logistics Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most revealing statistics in modern education has nothing to do with reading scores, mathematics proficiency, or scientific literacy. Instead, it concerns grades. According to Hannah Frankman Hood, writing for Daily Economy, roughly half of all students graduating from American high schools now receive an A average. At first glance, this sounds like […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Interstate Logistics Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T09:39:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00281dc0effceea9cfcddc1b70792a0e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/93038961905b9b4e826fad647449a9a4\"},\"headline\":\"Straight As, Empty Minds\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T09:39:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834\"},\"wordCount\":1142,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Related Topics: Education, Socialism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\",\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834\",\"name\":\"Straight As, Empty Minds - Interstate Logistics Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-30T09:39:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/93038961905b9b4e826fad647449a9a4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?p=3834#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Straight As, Empty Minds\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Interstate Logistics Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/93038961905b9b4e826fad647449a9a4\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Straight As, Empty Minds - Interstate Logistics Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Straight As, Empty Minds - Interstate Logistics Hub","og_description":"One of the most revealing statistics in modern education has nothing to do with reading scores, mathematics proficiency, or scientific literacy. Instead, it concerns grades. According to Hannah Frankman Hood, writing for Daily Economy, roughly half of all students graduating from American high schools now receive an A average. At first glance, this sounds like […]","og_url":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834","og_site_name":"Interstate Logistics Hub","article_published_time":"2026-07-30T09:39:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00281dc0effceea9cfcddc1b70792a0e.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/#\/schema\/person\/93038961905b9b4e826fad647449a9a4"},"headline":"Straight As, Empty Minds","datePublished":"2026-07-30T09:39:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834"},"wordCount":1142,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg","keywords":["Related Topics: Education, Socialism"],"articleSection":["Economy","Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834","url":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834","name":"Straight As, Empty Minds - Interstate Logistics Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-30T09:39:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/#\/schema\/person\/93038961905b9b4e826fad647449a9a4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1cde88a77e7973eb4f0d6fff14109fc0.jpg","width":1200,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3834#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Straight As, Empty Minds"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/","name":"Interstate Logistics Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/#\/schema\/person\/93038961905b9b4e826fad647449a9a4","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com"],"url":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}