And in response to this:

Would he approve of a system of handicapping by which the brighter sort of people, like himself, were held back in order that the dimmer sort should have greater opportunities to shine their light, such as it is, before the world?

Is this not the sort of thing happening in many public schools, in which smarter kids are bored out of their skulls and even given “busy work” to do, in order to avoid developing lesson plans for the best and brightest? While not the primary reason, one of the more continually appearing reasons that parents go for home education is because their smarter kids were staved off intellectually until the under-average kids could catch up to them.

So in a sense, that is occuring. However, phrased as Bowman puts it, this serves as a bitter wakeup call.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.