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I cannot stand these articles. It's time for the whole suburban-liberal "follow your dreams and go to college" attitude to abruptly implode. Don't waste your t

I cannot stand these articles. It's time for the whole suburban-liberal "follow your dreams and go to college" attitude to abruptly implode. Don't waste your time reading this article. I can sum it up for you: 1.) The first subject in this article is a theater major who has been in college for over six years. 2.) The second subject is paying a lease on a new vehicle and had studied abroad in Italy, despite barely earning above minimum wage. There's no beating around the bush; you can't fix stupid. I have very little sympathy for people who effectively squandered what little they had instead of at least making an attempt at good decision making. To fight and lose is one thing. To say you were doomed from the start and that fighting would be a waste of your time is another.

spaceseaman 9y ago
You're asking people who are freaking 17 years-old to have excellent decision making skills and awareness of what industry will be in half a decade when you get out. WHO IS THAT SMART? WHO IS THAT AWARE? I just got lucky cause I liked computers, was nerdy, and did decently on exams. I assume most other programmers are the same. I didn't know anything about SV (grew up in rural Kentucky) - I didn't know what the industry was like. I just believed Google when it said I would get a job. Don't act like we all thought very hard and carefully, meticulously planned out whether the thing we enjoyed would be profitable. Most people were 17. If you were 17 or 18 when you decided to go to college, it probably wasn't a very well-thought out decision. The fact that you look at such students with such ire and derision for wanting a better life and working for that is so heartbreaking and pathetic. There are much more productive places to direct your malice than the students themselves. You don't have to feel bad for people who made worse decisions than you. Congratulations, people make bad decisions. It's more productive to ask ourselves, "Why?" and "How can we prevent this" and "What can these people do now" rather than just getting all "old man yells at cloud" about "suburban-liberals". Lemme tell you real quick. I know people from every end of the damn political spectrum in this situation, so whatever political image you're projecting onto these students is just nonsense. It isn't a "liberal snowflake" or "feminist" problem or whatever else whacked out narrative you have in your head. The only conclusion you've come to is that teenagers are make bad decisions. A lot of students of this generation felt that their only way to success was through college. It isn't because they're dumb. It isn't because they're "lazy". It's because they made the wrong decision. Let's all try and be a little more productive and ask "Now what?".
- maehwasu 9y ago
  As soon as you become a theater major, you lose the right to the "I just was trying to make more money and have a better life" narrative.
  - SolaceQuantum 9y ago
    If at 17 someone was informed among their group that they were he best theatre students in their peer group? Then even in college they are really good at theatre and are mediocre to bad at more “marketable” skills? Do they deserve poverty for not knowing at 17 that even after 4 years or more of education the standard is more like 20+ years of education? Or that making it is not acting skill but networking skill? At 17 people will try to do what they are best at and play to their strengths. That’s really reasonable at 17.
  - spaceseaman 9y ago
    So your argument is that making a dumb decision invalidates anyones ability to feel sympathy for you? It's not a narrative. It's just common human decency. WHY THE MALICE? They made a bad decision - great: you get to feel superior. ... Are you done yet? Cause that person didn't just disappear after you got done feeling all high and mighty. As someone who has know quite a few theatre, dance and other such "dumb majors". I actually know quite a few who've become very successful working in their field. They may not be actresses or professional dancers, but they work close enough to the field that they feel their degree is useful. Many also chose to work outside that field in other decently paying jobs (technical writers, editors, etc). Why do you feel the need to just act as if it's hopeless and throw these students out? Is your need to feel superior that significant?
  - mjmahone17 9y ago
    Why? If you are an actor on Broadway, your minimum pay is $1,861 per week[0]. So if you're working 40 weeks per year, you'd be making, as a minimum, $74,000. This is higher than many teachers' salaries, and in line with many other professionals. Plus there's a very high (if very narrow) ceiling on those salaries. You can make the argument "well most actors never make it as a broadway actor". While true, do most software developers make it as a Google developer? And how likely is it that someone whose talent lies in acting is also talented enough to do well at software development? Sometimes, you should play to your strengths, even if the relative bargaining power of your strengths are not as strong as someone else's strengths. That doesn't mean you're not following the best path to "have a better life". [0] http://www.actorsequity.org/agreements/agreements.asp?code=001 http://www.actorsequity.org/agreements/agreements.asp?code=0...
troupe 9y ago
> theater major who has been in college for over six years And that was 6 years at a community college without getting a degree.
- iopuy 9y ago
  I'm sorry but this is almost comical.
  - bookmarkacc 9y ago
    I think the thing that is less comical is that she had to work a minimum wage job and juggle homelessness while going to college. Difficult to graduate in 4 with those challenges
eli_gottlieb 9y ago
> It's time for the whole suburban-liberal "follow your dreams and go to college" attitude to abruptly implode. So you're saying it's time to drop the illusions and admit that most people will never be professionals with six-figure salaries, thus dramatically increasing class consciousness and ushering in the workers' revolution? I don't think that's going to be politically popular.
rwallace 9y ago
I agree completely about the attitude, but would blame a different group of people. To put it in terms as blunt as yours: when people are told lies from morning till night, and kept in cages for eighteen years until they're too broken to tell the difference between lies and truth, the real culprits for the disastrous results are not the victims of these policies.

spaceseaman 9y ago

You're asking people who are freaking 17 years-old to have excellent decision making skills and awareness of what industry will be in half a decade when you get out. WHO IS THAT SMART? WHO IS THAT AWARE? I just got lucky cause I liked computers, was nerdy, and did decently on exams. I assume most other programmers are the same. I didn't know anything about SV (grew up in rural Kentucky) - I didn't know what the industry was like. I just believed Google when it said I would get a job. Don't act like we all thought very hard and carefully, meticulously planned out whether the thing we enjoyed would be profitable. Most people were 17. If you were 17 or 18 when you decided to go to college, it probably wasn't a very well-thought out decision. The fact that you look at such students with such ire and derision for wanting a better life and working for that is so heartbreaking and pathetic. There are much more productive places to direct your malice than the students themselves. You don't have to feel bad for people who made worse decisions than you. Congratulations, people make bad decisions. It's more productive to ask ourselves, "Why?" and "How can we prevent this" and "What can these people do now" rather than just getting all "old man yells at cloud" about "suburban-liberals". Lemme tell you real quick. I know people from every end of the damn political spectrum in this situation, so whatever political image you're projecting onto these students is just nonsense. It isn't a "liberal snowflake" or "feminist" problem or whatever else whacked out narrative you have in your head. The only conclusion you've come to is that teenagers are make bad decisions. A lot of students of this generation felt that their only way to success was through college. It isn't because they're dumb. It isn't because they're "lazy". It's because they made the wrong decision. Let's all try and be a little more productive and ask "Now what?".

maehwasu 9y ago
As soon as you become a theater major, you lose the right to the "I just was trying to make more money and have a better life" narrative.
- SolaceQuantum 9y ago
  If at 17 someone was informed among their group that they were he best theatre students in their peer group? Then even in college they are really good at theatre and are mediocre to bad at more “marketable” skills? Do they deserve poverty for not knowing at 17 that even after 4 years or more of education the standard is more like 20+ years of education? Or that making it is not acting skill but networking skill? At 17 people will try to do what they are best at and play to their strengths. That’s really reasonable at 17.
- spaceseaman 9y ago
  So your argument is that making a dumb decision invalidates anyones ability to feel sympathy for you? It's not a narrative. It's just common human decency. WHY THE MALICE? They made a bad decision - great: you get to feel superior. ... Are you done yet? Cause that person didn't just disappear after you got done feeling all high and mighty. As someone who has know quite a few theatre, dance and other such "dumb majors". I actually know quite a few who've become very successful working in their field. They may not be actresses or professional dancers, but they work close enough to the field that they feel their degree is useful. Many also chose to work outside that field in other decently paying jobs (technical writers, editors, etc). Why do you feel the need to just act as if it's hopeless and throw these students out? Is your need to feel superior that significant?
- mjmahone17 9y ago
  Why? If you are an actor on Broadway, your minimum pay is $1,861 per week[0]. So if you're working 40 weeks per year, you'd be making, as a minimum, $74,000. This is higher than many teachers' salaries, and in line with many other professionals. Plus there's a very high (if very narrow) ceiling on those salaries. You can make the argument "well most actors never make it as a broadway actor". While true, do most software developers make it as a Google developer? And how likely is it that someone whose talent lies in acting is also talented enough to do well at software development? Sometimes, you should play to your strengths, even if the relative bargaining power of your strengths are not as strong as someone else's strengths. That doesn't mean you're not following the best path to "have a better life". [0] http://www.actorsequity.org/agreements/agreements.asp?code=001 http://www.actorsequity.org/agreements/agreements.asp?code=0...

troupe 9y ago

> theater major who has been in college for over six years And that was 6 years at a community college without getting a degree.

iopuy 9y ago
I'm sorry but this is almost comical.
- bookmarkacc 9y ago
  I think the thing that is less comical is that she had to work a minimum wage job and juggle homelessness while going to college. Difficult to graduate in 4 with those challenges

eli_gottlieb 9y ago

> It's time for the whole suburban-liberal "follow your dreams and go to college" attitude to abruptly implode. So you're saying it's time to drop the illusions and admit that most people will never be professionals with six-figure salaries, thus dramatically increasing class consciousness and ushering in the workers' revolution? I don't think that's going to be politically popular.

rwallace 9y ago

I agree completely about the attitude, but would blame a different group of people. To put it in terms as blunt as yours: when people are told lies from morning till night, and kept in cages for eighteen years until they're too broken to tell the difference between lies and truth, the real culprits for the disastrous results are not the victims of these policies.