you simply can not compare GPAs of today to those of an earlier era. A "C" from the 1960s might well mean more than an "A" earned today. I read an article a few years ago (no link or confirmation available) that claimed that the minimum grade any Stanford student could receive was a C even if he or she never showed up to class or did anything. I don't know if that claim is true, but if it is, then to me a Stanford diploma isn't worth very much.

Intellectualism that's divorced from the real world is not worthy of respect, IMO. Education is very important for many people (I have two master's degrees - software engineering and space systems management) but it isn't the be-all and end-all measurement of an individual's stature or worth to society. A career firefighter with a high school diploma may well contribute more to society than a professor with an alphabet soup of degrees behind his name. An 8th grade drop out like Bill Lear died with over 100 patents and created thousands of jobs over his lifespan. I'd certainly rate his contributions higher than a tenured college professor.

Academic snobbism and elitism is just another form for prejudice and a particularly ugly one at that. Those so inflicted measure peoples' worth by the number of degrees they have and from what educational institutions rather than by their contributions to society. I'm sure they would look down their noses at people like my brother Steve. He was a high school dropout who earned his GED some years ago. As a master machinist and welder, he earns more than I do and rightfully so. Several years ago, a high tech company was looking for someone with a master's degree in engineering to run their CAD/CAM prototyping shop but they hired Steve because they knew he could do the job (and he did). Of course, Steve laughs at the eggheads, too. After all, living well is the best revenge.