Not the 99%
Rob Long ·
Oct 12, 2011 at 8:26am
I found this in my Facebook newsfeed. I have no idea whether it's authentic or not, but I sure hope it is:
I wonder, though: is there a Silent Majority of young people who look at the Occupy Wall Streeters and think, "spoiled brats?"
What do our College Feed contributors and readers think?
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Comments :
Re: Not the 99%
As Elizabeth Warren would say, "You made it -- God bless! Time to start paying taxes."
Apr '11
Re: Not the 99%
Not sure if they are spoiled, but they certainly are brats. As a grumpy 26 year old nothing infuriates me like the exuberant self righteousness of the young.
May '10
Re: Not the 99%
I also graduated completely debt-free, from a private school. I can't take all the credit; I received a number of generous scholarships, and a couple thousand from my grandparents. I don't recall taking any kind of government grant or loan. I am immensely grateful for the generosity I received.
But I tried to be worthy of that generosity by working two part-time jobs, taking summer internships, grading papers for entry-level classes, riding around on a bicycle (my first car came AFTER graduating from college), preparing most of my own food, and sharing a rented room with another college friend in a house with about 3-4 other students. I also packed my class schedule so I could graduate in 4 years, not 5 or 6.
People used to call me crazy, biking around in the winter, but who's laughing now?
Feb '11
Re: Not the 99%
I think it's like everything else. 33% are right, 33% are wrong (left), and 33% are in the middle, swaying in the breeze. That middle 33 is made up of people who don't follow politics, independents, and doofuses.
Aug '10
Re: Not the 99%
There's probably a Silent Majority of young productive people who despise the OWS protesters. But I'm not optimistic enough about that particular generation to expand that to all young people.
Dec '10
Re: Not the 99%
It's not a majority. We wouldn't have the level of education debt we do if the majority was doing it the right way.
Apr '11
Re: Not the 99%
Check this out:
WE ARE THE 53%
Mar '11
Re: Not the 99%
Two short things to say on this topic:
1) On the personal level: When I graduated, it was not without debt. But the majority of my college tuition was paid by earning an ROTC scholarship and then serving the requisite number of years after I graduated. My other debts--some small student loans--were paid off in the course of the next couple of years. (as a complete side note on this discussion, the USAA starter loan is a fantastic program. Helped me afford my first car)
2) College tuition is outrageously expensive today. I have a couple favored solutions but most of them boil down to the creation of "credentialing" programs that are not 4 year university educations costing upwards of 200k.
But we should observe that when a generation of kids graduates from college facing that kind of massive debt, it isn't surprising that they come to view indebtedness as a normal state in society--and this only exacerbates other poor judgments stemming from youth.
May '11
Re: Not the 99%
I would point out one additional thing, though. Debt is not wholly and entirely a bad thing. Sometimes, debt is a good decision. But it has to be accompanied by other good decisions. I have a ton of debt, because even working all through college and every summer, I was literally starting from ground zero. I got a law degree, and I am currently working (as a lawyer) to pay off that debt. Had I worked before college in order to save cash to pay for school, I would necessarily have been earning considerably less than I can right now (notwithstanding the terrible legal market at this time). Debt enabled me to better utilize my time, finish school faster, and work to pay for my education more effectively than I otherwise could have. An appropriate complaint about student debt would be when kids use it to party for 4 years, graduate with a pointless humanities degree (though not all are, I admit), and then feel entitled to a high-paying job simply because they graduated college.... It often feels like we're blaming the apparatus (debt) rather than the people who misuse it.
May '10
Re: Not the 99%
Our family has 4 people, covering 4 BAs, 3 Masters, 2 PhDs, 1 law degree, and one tech/community college (nursing) diploma.
Not one of those 11 diplomas was paid for by a loan or a rich relative or family wealth- every one was paid for by scholarships, grants, and mostly working while going to less expensive schools, and giving up the high life while going to school.
I have exactly zero sympathy for anyone who borrowed piles of money to get a degree from a "prestige" college. Make your choices, pay your money, don't ask the rest of us to subsidize you. Period.
Aug '10
Re: Not the 99%
Duane,
There are those who did borrow piles of money -- like me -- who are not asking for your sympathy or for you to pay off our loans. We are even more infuriated at those at the OWS like events who are complaining about their debt.
I have student loan debt. I have credit card debt. I chose to take them for various reasons. I am paying them. These jerks, who often get what they ask for while I still pay, really piss me off.
Jul '11
Re: Not the 99%
i prefer to ignore them. My family walked by the occupy Sacramento gang Saturday night and we saw who they were comprised of which was not a pretty sight. My 8 year boy who is very astute asked who all the strange people were. My response was to that they were mentally ill and wanted my money stolen from me by the government and given to them.
He then asked why they don't just work for their own money instead of stealing it. God bless his little soul he has it figured out.
Apr '11
Re: Not the 99%
In 20 years, I matriculated at a different university every six years and finished with three degrees and no debt. I financed it with scholarships, fellowships with stipend, GI bill, working, going to school part-time, and living at home (parents or wife) at three out of four schools. I had no idea what I was doing, and I wouldn't have known how to get a loan even if I hadn't been terrified of going into debt in the first place.
When you include scholarships, the portion of the population who can avoid significant debt is reduced. Against that are that tuition does not reflect educational benefits; it funds a lot of glitz. The economic rationale for schools to provide the glitz is pleasing students who don't really need a college degree, which reflects the fact that far too many people go to college. That in turn is a consequence of cheap government loans and the fact that employers can't do IQ/aptitude/achievement screening, so they use degrees, because schools can do the screening.
A social dysfunction hat trick: the baleful effects of government-induced economic distortions; another screw-up liberals won't have to apologize for; and middle-class welfare.
Edited on Oct 12, 2011 at 10:26amSep '10
Re: Not the 99%
I'm 26 and I have friends from many different walks of life around the country. The vast majority are indifferent and clueless about politics and our economic system. Those who have interest at all are usually half educated about public policy. My hope is that their attitudes are a function of their age. I suspect we're doomed from so many years of race/gender/oppression studies and crackpot economics.
Jun '10
Re: Not the 99%
Our young people are faced with challenges that us old folks didn't have to face, including dealing with the relativistic, entitlement world.
Yet many soldier on. Work their way through school. Marry, have kids, and contribute to their communities. The problem today is that there are too few of this type.
God help us if we don't figure out a way to allow them to turn into real, self-sufficient, non-whining adults.
Apr '11
Re: Not the 99%
Anybody who thinks a few thousand whiny brats scurrying about the streets are 99% of 307 million people needs to pay more attention in math class.
May '10
Re: Not the 99%
Nathaniel Wright: Duane,
There are those who did borrow piles of money -- like me -- who are not asking for your sympathy or for you to pay off our loans. We are even more infuriated at those at the OWS like events who are complaining about their debt.
I have student loan debt. I have credit card debt. I chose to take them for various reasons. I am paying them. These jerks, who often get what they ask for while I still pay, really piss me off. · Oct 12 at 9:41am
Nathaniel, I do not question your situation or choices at all. You are not asking for sympathy, whining, or asking for a subsidy from those who made different choices. In other words, you are an adult.
That attitude is to be admired, and please don't think that my acerbic tone about the whiners applies to you, or to others, such as medical school students, who literally have no choice but to borrow.
I am for personal free choices, combined with personal responsibility. If someone chooses debt based on a cost benefit analysis, or follows a dream, go for it. It's your life.
Re: Not the 99%
In all honesty, I don't feel like talking about how my tuition is being paid (*cough* parents *cough*) so if people in debt are spoiled brats, I'm even worse.
However. On my campus, I have not heard one person talk about this whole "Occupy" fiasco. However, based on discussions in class, most people lean left. After all, it's a college.
Dec '10
Re: Not the 99%
Rob, I think the author of that was guilty of a little imaginary accounting. I don't quite believe the numbers described add up. However, calling the Occupy Wall Streeters "spoiled brats" is way too generous. They are more like young psychopaths enabled by Soros. I'd think many good kids would have a very deep resentment by now. If you've got good grades and are graduating into this Obama economy you know you've lost a huge amount of life long net worth. Watching the antics of these light weight clowns compounding the crime should make someone very angry indeed. If they can then turn their anger into positive political action and work for candidates that promote conservative values then we should thank Soros for giving us such a nice target to aim at. 2012 ASAP!
Jan '11
Re: Not the 99%
Poor guy. All of that virtue soon to be trumped by government coercion. I wish him well. He ought to do well. He prepared himself to do well. But lurking around the corner isn't the once familiar serendipity, the happy surprise waiting for those who've prepared for it. The absurd future debt service will fall on him and the family he will thoughtfully put together and nurture. He will be less comfortable than he deserves, because personal effort will not have the commensurate rewards once familiar to those who worked hard for their wants and necessities. Moreover, and, sadder still,neither will his children.
If all of that sounds ludicrous to you, you just don't understand where we are and why.
Edited on Oct 12, 2011 at 5:32pm