Serve me my coffee, keep your political opinions to yourself.
I remember being in college. A) I’m not that old and B) college was a memorable experience. Now, I wasn’t a big partier, and my life’s goal wasn’t re-creating “Animal House”, but I wasn’t the depressed college kid who spent night alone staring at the wall because I’d gone from little pond to ocean of people. I was just a regular, non exceptional, one of 50,000 students at Texas.
My goal in college was basically to work my ass off to get a job that would provide the means to live my life the way I wanted it. If I wanted to eat Velociraptor omelets sprinkled with diamonds to make my doo doo sparkle, then I’d have to work for it, simple equation. I never really paid any attention to causes or politics, and if you’ve been to Texas, then you know that’s damn near impossible to do.
Anyway, I always made a point to read the daily newspaper and read the editorials as well as walk by the West Mall because I was guaranteed an interesting protest or awkwardly social cause. I still make a point to read the campus newspaper online and follow along with comments, and now that I’m a ways away from college life, I’ve affirmed by simple belief.
College kids are stupid because they’ve got too much time and independence.
Think about it. A lot of college students are in college to find out what they want to do for the rest of their lives. It’s their first time away from home, and most of them have a certain sense of financial non-responsibility. Either it’s parental support, scholarship or student loan combined with a part time job. (I’m sure everyone who read this blog had to work 40 hours weeks and study 50 hours a week because they put themselves through school, and I’m just a spoiled brat who got in on scholarship, parental support and a part time job. I guess I’m spoiled then. First world problems!)
Anyways, without any real fiscal responsibility and whirling in a general studies atmosphere with no supervision, I think college students find themselves in the enviable position to be able to glom on to current events. So, you’ll have a group of thousands of college students protesting and trying to make arguments about how immigration reform should happen and taxes shouldn’t be raised and this state senator is doing this and this state senator is doing that. They’ll write impassioned please for why student government matters and why if you don’t act now, the world is going to end. They’ll think that this is there chance to recreate the 60’s where protests matters and social mores were challenged and things changed. I remember at commencement, we had the Secretary of the Treasury speak and a bunch of student tried to interrupt him by stripping their gowns and screaming “No Blood for Oil!” over and over again.
These kids pay little to no taxes and contribute nothing to society short of keeping vintage clothing stores open, and I’m supposed to give a shit what they think? Pardon me if the voices I choose to listen to are the voices of people who are living in the real world and have real world problems. People who support families, pay mortgages/rent and bills, pay taxes. Sure, there are many people in college doing those things, but $10 says they’re not the ones politicking and protesting because those people have to make it to work and then make it home.
Anyway, if you’re a college kid, spend your time enjoying college. Discover what you love to do. Get drunk on a weekday. Meet people and find new hobbies. Don’t try and act smarter than you are and beg for people to listen to you when you have nothing relevant to say.
