Monday, April 13, 2015

College Students are Intellectually and Culturally Superior

In a response to a letter from a Brown University student to which we linked the other day, another Brown student patiently explains that his generation is being confronted by societal forces NEVER ENCOUNTERED IN THE ENTIRETY OF HUMAN HISTORY!

Jeez, kid, relax a little.  Look on the bright side, you never had to carry a draft card during the Vietnam War.

Here's some sagacity by this new voice among the social justice warriors:
The current rally that generational pundits make against me and my peers in college today is that we have forsaken freedom of speech and multiple viewpoints for ‘comfort'.  I’m afraid that it is a product of jargon that is too easily mistranslated by opinion columnists hoping to pass a deadline.  If delved with any honest intent into the vast discourse of social justice, they would see how far from the mark they really are.”
"Generational pundits"?  Jargon vs. jargon it is, then.
When I say your argument makes me uncomfortable, it is because I am greatly concerned that you have not done the requisite thought and research into generating an inclusive thesis that considers as many nuances as necessary to deliver a sound debate.
So, we haven't done our homework and that makes him, in his words, "uncomfortable".  Man, when will I finally be too old to have to do homework?  "Warriors" of my generation were made of sterner stuff.

If I hadn't taught two generations of American youth, I would be distressed at this condescending and self-centered world view.  Instead, I recognize it for what it is and know that once the "nuanced" realities of life away from Thayer Street present themselves, when the demands of secular employment and mundanities like student loan payments and mortgages become reality, a less cloistered appreciation of life will develop.

In the meantime, I guess I'll have to do my homework so that I might serve this pantheon of human experience and achievement.  Or, maybe, I'll just go wax my surfboard and change the spark plugs in the truck.

Related news from Planet Nuance:
From cost to employment prospects, the state of American higher education is dismal for students.