April 27, 2004
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TOPIC: Philosophizing on the legitimacy of life
The following is a real quote for a real blog of a college student:
“When I have a real job and in the business world I am going to be sure to make tons and tons of money. I want to live comfertably!!!! I know “money’s not important” and “money shouldn’t matter” but that is bull. and its not for status or anything, i just don’t want to feel bad that I can’t help order a pizza or anything for my friends, and that i haven’t had a dollar in my wallet for well over a month now. I guess that is the price I pay.”
Question #1: What makes a job legitimate?
Something has been put into the minds of youth, from our parents, our peers, our teachers, our media, from everything. That something is the concept of getting a “real job.” Most people limit the types of real jobs to doctor, lawyer, business, teaching, etc. Basically, young people (myself included) have been taught that a real job is what we’ve seen.
The problem with that is there are tons of jobs that are equally real, but require a little more creativity. My job at Outward Bound has been an amazing experience, and there is always help wanted. Or, you could work in a hostal, live for free, meet people from all over the world.
To get people started on finding some other real jobs, go to www.coolworks.com or to www.aee.org and go to their jobs site. If you need a job for the summer, check out www.acacamps.org
Especially for people in college, and for a few years after college, there is absolutely no reason to limit your life to working for a real job, or something that your parents would consider legitimate work. In fact, it’s no surprise that most people aren’t passionate about their real jobs, while people with strange, non normal, weird, hippy, foolish jobs, are having the best times of their lives.
Question #2: What is the business world?
From what I was exposed to in college, the business world is about plugging numbers into forumulas. Is the business world really what I want to do? From the newspapers, the business world is the last section I want to read, behind sports, the funnies, the travel section, world news, politics, and just about any other section except business. Is the business world really what I want to do? From what I hear from people in the business world, “the hours are long,” and most people don’t have too much to actually say about what they do. Is the business world really what I want to do?
I don’t know how it has become so, that everyone wants to work for an industry that they have little knowledge about, and little interest about. I think the reason stems from question #1, that the business world is perceived to be a legitimate place to work, a place full of real jobs. A place full of money. Which takes us to question #3.
Question #3: Why do people want to make tons and tons of money?
I can understand wanting to have enough money to live comfortably. Enough money to eat out occassionally, to party, to do fun things with your friends. But what is this, “tons and tons of money” part? First of all, desiring tons and tons of money forces a person to search for a “real job in the business world,” therefor cutting off a whole world of jobs that would probably make a person much more satisfied and happy with their lives. Secondly, the things that one usually wants tons and tons of money for, a fancy car and a nice furnished house, are not really worth all the effort to make a lot of money.
Why do I say that. Well…for about $10 a night, I am currently living in a hostal with a pool, jacuzzi, pool table, everything fully furnished, beautiful balcony. It’s located in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, near the beach, near the mountains. So, while most people will take their real job in business, which is taking them away from their passions, i am living in the type of house that they are working 20 years to be able to afford to live in.
It’s amazing, when you start questioning what is normal and legitimate in our life, how we’re actually punishing ourselves. I don’t think there’s a conspiracy out there, or some tricky marketing to make us live as we are. We’re just going along with tradition, following the lead of the generation behind us. For progress to happen, we must think progressively, and that means asking these simple questions. It starts with lifestyle, and it seeps into education and politics.
-Dan
Comments (3)
i love your profile picture. deep in thought or constipated?
Probably both, thanks for the comment.
hey dan – i think i posted that article because it does scare me…i think it is extremely scary that such a fanatical school (and it would scare me just as much if it were Jewish or Muslim or Catholic or Hindu or Zoroastrian or Shinto….) feeds right into the government. I’ve said this before (and I stand by it) I want the clause “separation of church and state” to be upheld. I worry that sometimes religion comes into the argument too much nowadays.
It isn’t about being conservative or liberal or moderate. to me it’s basic civil liberties – and with a religious fanatic in power, there will be no liberties. we are at their mercy – THIS is what scares me.
and if it were just a Christian school that happened to, due to location, feed into the DC political system – i wouldn’t care so much. The thing that frightens me is that their sole purpose is to spread their gospel through the political system (judicial, legislative and federal).
yes – i do in fact lose sleep over this. it is a frightening concept to think that my way of life could be jeopardized because some asshole fanatic has access to power.
and you are absolutely correct – if the bigger schools could get their shit together they would also produce world leaders – but there are TONS of political students at Berkeley – and they ALL go to DC. We even have a program out there (2 actually) – and most people who study in DC and intern on the Hill through UCDC end up back in Washington for a ‘real job’. There are ways.
Don’t be so quick to villify the system on which you were raised. Though there are many setbacks, there are also some advantages. Sometimes it isn’t about what the school does for you, but how the school creates a method by which you learn to do things. I have my issues with Berkeley – as I know you do with Wash U – but one great thing about Berkeley is that I was never babied. I learned how to do things independently, on my own, with no help from advisors (because I never had one) or professors (because they were hardly available). In Berkeley – you are taught how to live. Maybe that isn’t the case at private schools – but i was not spoonfed my life in college. and Berkeley is a top tier school with almost 30,000 people – so sometimes you can learn from a big institution.
It’s not just about having someone give you the avenues – it’s about learning how to navigate the road yourself – it’s about being proactive. Too many collegiates are used to being driven places by their parents that they can’t cope with the ‘trauma’ of being on their own and so they rely on staying close to home and the institution which supports them.
i know that i am an exception to everything i’m arguing because i wanted to move away from home and because i went to a school that doesn’t know what the term “coddle” means. But i think the problem isn’t necessarily with the university system – it’s with society in general.