| | Rant 231: oh, humanity
I think I've realized my opinion of humanity in general has somehow skidded downhill from its already-low point. I find myself having thoughts I would describe variously as Nietzschean, Machiavellian, objectivist, fascist, etc., thoughts like "America would be a great place if it weren't for the idiots generally finding a way to run things" and 'it's times like this democracy really blows. Let's bring back kings!"
I'm not supposed to have these thoughts though, paradoxically, I have the freedom to do so. I'm supposed to believe in democracy and the right to vote and equality and that all men are created equal. This propaganda has been implanted into my involuntary brain functions. But then we elected a government that's mismanaged/mismanaging the place right into the ground fiscally. I mean, they couldn't even declare bankruptcy properly! (How about next time we NOT give Chrysler 4 bln before forcing them into Chapter 11 and laying everyone off anyway, okay?) Our social security and medicare programs are set to collapse, the environment has issues, we have natural resource problems in multiple areas, and yet we've still found time to spend the last 8 years hunkering our military on the other half of the Earth. Not to be cynical, but have we actually solved ANY long term issue since the cold war ended?
I just look at our current political system of no one wanting to really compromise and make hard decisions and I see it like the middle of a Dr. Seuss morality tale.
Sorry about the cynacism, but I just off the phone with Hoppy McGee. Hoppy is a made-up name for a student at Northwestern who gets paid to spend his Wednesday evenings calling alumni for donations as opposed to studying and actually becomming an intelligent member of our alumni someday.
Here's how this should have gone:
Him: [inane questions about my life]
Me: I'm going back to school in the fall.
Him: Oh, I understand that you're probably saving money for that. If you'd like to donate a small amount of money to NU, I'd be happy to take it, but we understand your situation and hope that after school you'll use your new position to donate to NU.
Me: I'll definitely consider that! You have a nice night.
Him: You too!
Here's how this actually went:
Him: [inane questions about my life]
Me: I'm going back to school in the fall.
Him: Can I start you off on a $100 a month pledge plan?
Me: I'm sorry, I don't feel I've gotten enough back from my investment in NU to warrant a donation at this time.
Him: Oh, I understand you're unable to give at this time...
Me: Oh no, I'm able. I just don't want to. I don't think it would be right. After I have a graduate degree and my education is paying back more in tangible returns, I'll surely consider donating to Northwestern.
Him: Dude, that's totally cool. I totally understand that and I respect that but I need to tell you about our YOUNG ALUMNI CHALLENGE because blah blah blah blah blah if we had a higher participation from our young alumni we would've moved up to EIGTH in the USNWR rankings!!! jibbity jabbity jibbity jabbity a donation as much as $25 dollars can really help boost our ranking; I know you care about these rabble rabble rabble rabble.
Me: [repeating what I said earlier].
I tried to be nice, because honestly it's probably not the 20-year old 's fault he has to read scripts to people who don't want to hear them, but I probably came off like an asshole. Maybe I'm just turning into a curmudgeon, but I feel my irritation is justified. Why, might you ask?
a) nearly all grad students take out loans to fund their studies. such students are, normally, in no position to be donating 1200 a year to their filthy rich college.
b) USNWR rankings are lame. I refuse to evaluate college by any publication whose sole relevance in the world seems to be ranking elite colleges and having Yale-want-to-be parents/students buy their services and brag. Hey, if you're actually US News and World Reports, why not actually be relevant to NEWS and the WORLD? And donation rankings? Are you serious? Why not evaluate who's solving cancer, composing symphonies, teaching public high schools, and writing bitter diatribes on their blogs?
c) my current position realizes less in annual salary than one year of combined expenses and tuition at NU. As far as a benchmark goes, I think that's a pretty good one.
most importantly:
d) I don't like being PANHANDLED in my own home at 8:47 pm when I have to get up for work at 5 the next day.
Gosh, I wish George Carlin were still alive, because I'd call him. I probably wouldn't get through, but I'd give the oeprator an earful.
I don't think I qualify as an angry young man anymore since I think Green Day is a bunch of sell-outs and I have no idea who else is out there. I like semi-bitter, ironic bands like the Decemberists and the Mountain Goats, but they're really only "angry" if you're at a fundraiser for Darfur or NPR.
So I guess I'm an angry old man. And I think everyone knows what I'm striving for: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGfx3QAV64M
and no, i don't want to publish this fucking entry to my nonexistent facebook profile!
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| | Posted 5/13/2009 11:30 PM - 4 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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