Posted on 06/01/2011 12:48:23 PM PDT by suspects
“Nearly every sensible middle-aged person would give away all their money to be able to go back to age 22 and begin adulthood anew.” – New York Times [NYT] columnist David Brooks.
To the graduating class of 2011:
Mr. Brooks is an idiot.
Trade places with you? I’d rather swap jobs with Anthony Weiner’s Twitter assistant.
You — members of the “Hope and Change” generation — face a daunting double-whammy. Having spent the past 20 years being babied, you’re now being flung into a world of wolves. Today’s America would be a tough place for David Brooks’s generation.
For yours? It’s a nightmare.
You’ve grown up swaddled in cultural bubble wrap, in schools whose motto was “Everyone gets a cupcake!” Deemed too delicate for dodgeball and tag, you were shielded from the basic level of schoolyard bullying previous generations took for granted.
Forget academics. Graduating from the average “Self-Esteem High” is as easy as showing up. That’s why 27 percent of all students under 25 at public four-year schools are taking at least one remedial course. And according to the Chicago Sun-Times, about 80 percent of those remedial students graduated high school with a 3.0 or better GPA.
Now, after four years of the ritual skirt-chasing and keg parties we call “higher education,” your family and friends gather together to slap you on the back, hand you a receipt for $40K in student loan debt and shove you out into the worst economy since the Great Depression.
Actually, by some measures the world you face is even rougher than the Class of ’31.
For one thing, a college degree in the Depression era was rare, and this rarity gave it an inherent value. Today? See how many...
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
Our daughter is graduating this year. We’ve done our best to teach her to *think* and understand the Law of Unintended (and sometimes Intended) Consequences, and why conservative principles work every time.
She’s a great kid who doesn’t put up with a lot of nonsense her peers produce. As a result, others look to her when they need help, advice or are being bullied. NOT the more liberal students. That is telling, imho.
Congrats to all those grads out there. Don’t forget what we’ve tried to help you learn!
My girlfriend’s liberal son graduated from college 2 weeks ago. This weekend he was complaining about the lack of job prospects. I told him that “Hope n Change” is not what it was cracked up to be and to be careful who he votes for next time. He acted like he didn’t hear what I was saying.
given the choice of being 18 but with the loss of my job skills/knowledge, I would strongly consider against it. The US is entering a terrible phase economically and I don’t see how in my lifetime the country will enjoy the wide-spread prosperity of decades past.
My daughter received her MS this past December. She was working at her job before she even received her degree (she needed to go back and defend her thesis). But it's (obviously) in a marketable field. If a kid wasted 4 or 5 years partying while earning a useless degree and then can't find a job now -- my sympathies.
I look at mistakes made and indecisive momments experienced back when I was 22 and I think “Yeah, if I could have a do-over, I’d take it”.
OTOH, I grew up in a good period (the late 70’s and early 80’s) and I don’t think, given the opportunity, that I’d wanna have a do-over given the way many 20-somethings think and act these days.
Thank you for posting bump.
I have to believe I’d be successful no matter when I reached 22, because I’m that awesome.
By the way, it actually took me a while longer than 22 years to be a college graduate, so I wouldn’t necessarily go back to that arbitrary mark.
He is the same moron who hates Sarah and cavorts with his Ruling Class RINO and Democratic buddies.
Brooks is a Lindsay Grahamnesty type of Republican, like Castle and Murkowski.
I, sadly would end the relationship.
There was a blowhard at our Memorial Day BBQ (wife’s friend’s husband) who keep citing NPR and that AGW was the reason for the weird weather (cold in CA).
He asked if our kids could go camping, I politely made up an excuse to never be stuck with a Liberal alone, ever.
I have to deal with my sister’s chronically unemployed, Native American 10-year live-in-boyfriend who still believes in “fat cats” and “rich Republicans”. I showed him some of the incomes of Leftists (Hollywoood, Media, sports, politicians, business) and he was quiet.
I despise every Liberal ever born.
Brooks is indeed, as has been proven many times over, an idiot.
Would YOU Trade Places With The Class of ‘11? Not a chance in Hell.
Our son is graduating high school this month, with his brother 2 years behind him. They and their friends are a pretty darn decent bunch of young people. They aren’t all blind to what has been going on, and I think many people will be surprised at how they will rise to the occasion. They will be challenged, many of them realize it, and many will be prepared to do their part. We hear a lot about young people who don’t study, choose silly majors, and otherwise waste their time and their parents’ money. There have always been silly people, lazy people, average people, hard workers, and leaders. Every generation has them, and the class of 2011 is no exception. I’m looking forward to seeing what they accomplish in the face of these challenges.
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