Is Westminster School the best school on Earth? STATESMOM returns

[statesmom]

I have a lot to say, don't know if anyone remembers the thread. Let me know if you want to hear from me.

I agree. It will cause some schools great problems. I also think nasty policies like this are why the Brits don’t give as much. Always a nasty fiscal surprise on the horizon.

From what I’ve seen, the rich don’t stress about jobs for dc as the OP seems to. They support dc and don’t have this competitive streak for dc. . Often that was present in former generations and there’s enough money for people to follow their interests. I think that’s great for them, The OP’s DS could not have this choice it appears.

MN stresses about uni and degree, but far far less about earnings! I would say DH was more driven to earn very well and certainly more than our other friends but everyone is happy with their choices and don’t expect to be a CEO!! We still have friends and we are all grounded but we all aim as high as it suits us.

This thread is very funny. The OP seems to be channelling Donald Trump 😂

Genuinely I worry that the US is on the edge of becoming a failed state. I know a lot of brilliant Americans (many of whom live here now) who are distraught about what is happening, but it seems there is little chance of stopping the course of events. The US constitution is not fit for the modern world. There is nothing that could persuade me to live there now, and I would have said differently in the past.

UK wages are stagnant and we are all suffering from that but income alone is no reason to move to the US right now.

The presidential election is between two men who do not have the cognitive ability to be 'leader of the free world' (not sure that applies anymore).
Trump has said he will release the capital rioters once he gets into office.
It's a shitshow of a country.
I'm not sure OP cares about this though. Her values centre around cold hard cash.

The American Republic, contemplated by the Constitution, is older than the republics of France, Italy, and Germany.

Combined.

Everybody (outside of America) loves to talk about its decline. They've been doing so, incorrectly, for over 200 years. Now is no different.

I do tire, sometimes, of this sort of ignorance, but in the end it doesn't really matter I've realized.

How is the United States, the most powerful nation the world has ever known, a "shitshow of a country"?

Is it due to the millions of people trying to go there to live? Due to the world's largest economy? Due to its innovation? Due to its Nobel Prizes? Due to the google you use every day, the facebook you get on, the apple computer and iphone you use every day? The tesla you probably can't afford?

What, exactly, makes it a "shitshow" of a country ?

I mean if Europe fell into the sea tomorrow, in terms of the future of humanity, it wouldn't make a dime's worth of difference.

From your comments it’s very obvious you spend very little time in the US.

You can't measure success purely through material things. How about women's rights? Gun safety? Racial tensions?

Use American Google to look up Project 2025 and tell me what sane person is applying for a Green Card.

And the age of something is no guarantee of effectiveness. Often the total opposite. The separation of powers is lost. The political system is broken

I'm finding the OP of this thread fascinating, though I don't think it's proving much of an advert for Westminster, WinColl, Stanford, investment banking as a career, education consultants or- I could probably go on.

OP, lots of us make decisions big and small every day - where to live, what careers to pursue, where to send our children to school, what culture or activities to emphasise or de-emphasise. And most people just... get on with it? If you're secure in your choices, it's quite odd to again and again (especially several years later) return somewhere and try to not only share your opinion but assert that your way is best, your son's education is the best, your family has donated $$$$ more to universities than another poster, your son has done x hours more volunteering than another poster's child, your country of choice is superlatively better than the UK/Europe. It's not impressive, it's just sort of odd. I would be quite exhausted constantly comparing myself / my children to everyone I knew and justifying to myself why I/they are the best. I wish you well and I hope you have the opportunity to think about why you're taking the approach you are.

(And, without meaning to enter into a pissing contest with you, my family is of the same context - international, high earning, high level work experience at companies with Ivy League grads etc. I'm not someone who suffers from low aspirations or a lack of access to culture and institutions etc. And I still feel as I wrote just above.)

I think Statesmom’s perspective is that success in an ultra ultra competitive world is not an accident. It take planning, resourcing and even then you’ve got privilege which can work for or against you. Most people would understand that for taking Johnny down the road and turning him into a premier league footballer but are not close to what it takes to makie a US Supreme Court judge or some other elite professional, especially a US based elite professional. Statesmom is trying to position her DS to fully exploit his privileges. It’s not up to her to change or challenge the system. So everyone else is saying… achieving success in the way you’ve planned is not important. That might be the case, but it is for her. Trouble is she’s a bit defensive about her choices.

How is the United States, the most powerful nation the world has ever known, a "shitshow of a country"?
I literally gave you one of the strongest examples of why it's a shitshow. In a country of over 300 million people, (including your esteemed and marvellous son) they are offering up two men with significantly impaired cognitive abilities to run the country.

And on 'the future of humanity', it certainly doesn't lie in investment bankers. Quite the opposite 😅

“The Tesla you probably cannot afford”. Absolutely could. I will stick with Porsche thanks. For my every day car, Range Rovers get the thumbs up from me. American cars have been pretty average until Tesla came along.

Before long we will be so glad we have Starmer or Sunak. Both of whom would have called out the blatant lies we heard at the debate. We might not always realise it here, but we do have fundamentally competent people in charge. (Except maybe BJ and LT). The Supreme Court in the USA is a political football. We need to make sure that never happens here. A President has a lot of scope now to do what they want without court intervention. Thank God our Supreme Court is independent.

The age of a democracy doesn’t matter. It’s the fundamentals it believes in that do. Separation of judiciary and state for starters.

TizerorFizz says that because of our two presidential candidates the US is a "shitshow"? I mean, do you think that you might be a bit short on logic here?

In any case, during the Trump administration, there were no new wars, the economy boomed, regulation was slashed, taxes reformed and Europe was put on notice that it can't look to daddy for protection anymore.

Not too shabby.

People in London are like the American press, and the best quote about them was: "The American people take Trump seriously but not literally; the press takes him literally but not seriously."

I've always wondered what it was like to be a European, not being able to vote in the most important elections in your life.

A fellow named James Allen once wrote in his diary, “many thinking people believe America has seen its best days.” He wrote that July 26, 1775.

https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/speech-to-the-republican-national-convention/

Those on the other side of my argument are joining a very long list of people who have incorrectly foretold of America's decline. And they were wrong every single time. Today is no different.

I think the posters who are getting riled up by OP are taking the wrong approach. I am being thoroughly entertained, I just made myself a cup of tea and grabbed some hobnobs and laughing myself silly.

OPs posts read like Donald trump's tweets. 😂

I think you are right. Her latest batshit musings sound like the ramblings of a drunk person (and the fact that she attributed my post to someone else😂)

not sure about drunk
but having one's head stuck up one's derriere for prolonged periods of time tends to cause hypoxic brain injury

Same. I'm just waiting for Covfefe.

Colour me surprised that the OP is a Trump supporter.

The antipathy to rational argument was a bit of a glaring clue.

I seem to be possibly the only one on here who remembers OP's original euqally insane post, which put the t word in my mind then and does now. Deciding to take it in good faith, I replied then because I went to Westminster and told her much of its alleged fabulousness came down to its super-selectivity, boosted by importing a ton of mega-brainy girls in the sixth form, most of whom would have got into Oxbridge or the Ivies from anywhere. Also warned her there was a lot of partying ... Anyway, she didn't listen to me (shocker!) and it seems she found out for herself I was telling the truth and is outraged ...

Why a thread that started by dissing your son's school has turned into one bigging up the US although the OP choses not to live there I don't know. FWIW I travel to the US the whole time and think there are some lovely people, as you find anywhere, but the country is a dump. NYC is a massively overrated city, LA is overrun with homeless people, the flyover states are full of Trump voters. Far prefer Europe.

I was just thinking the same thing 😂

OP my brother has been a student at both Cambridge and Harvard and he preferred Cambridge 🤷‍♀️ He also has the "Silicon Valley" career in IT that your son is after and works for one of the tech giants (having been headhunted and declining job at the competitor tech giant). He left the US and moved back to the UK where he is on eye-watering money for a 27-year-old. Not everyone wants to live in the madhouse that is the US at the moment.

And just look at all the SEN dc in Silicon Valley.

I think we always knew the OP was a Trump supporter - no surprise there. It’s just a massive shame she’s over here. There’s a certain amount of entertainment to be had but there’s half a nation like this! Just think about it. Worries me.