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Thinking back to my university experience - if you told me that I was going to be doing it in front of a screen, I'd have taken a gap year. If I'd already paid

Thinking back to my university experience - if you told me that I was going to be doing it in front of a screen, I'd have taken a gap year. If I'd already paid and you refused to refund me, I'd use that gap year to travel to campus, administrators' homes, the lot, and let everyone know that you've stolen enormous amounts of money from hundreds of thousands. Teenage me has a hell of a lot of energy, health, and time on their hands. It's so ridiculous an idea as to be absurd. Do you want social breakdown? This is how you get mass riots. Reading what's facing the US at the moment (I'm British) I honestly worry about whether there will be some sort of military standoff if the government doesn't step up _now_ and put together a coherent plan for the nation. There are tens of millions unemployed, graduates are entering an economy that's essentially been deleted, and new students are having the knife twisted in them before they've even started. People need _hope_. I'm angry on behalf of you guys.

jonahbenton 6y ago
Not sarcastic or cynical- chaos and violence is in Trump's express interest. He and his cohort- Bannon et al- have been saying it out loud for a long time now. They are just not taken "literally or seriously."
- jonahbenton 6y ago
  Re: downvote- as a factual matter Trump and cohort are saying that chaos and violence are their goals and have been for a long time. Stop being in denial.
  - well_that_sucks 6y ago
    link to evidence please
    - jonahbenton 6y ago
      Start with Josh Green. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/21/16000914/steve-bannon-devils-bargain-josh-green https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/21/16000914/s...
    - deleted 6y ago
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deleted 6y ago
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shrimp_emoji 6y ago
Teenage me was checked out of reality and playing WoW on 20-hour shifts.
- ericlewis 6y ago
  one of many, but not all or most.
seph-reed 6y ago
War has been highly likely imminent since Crimea, but only overwhelmingly so (imo) since Hong Kong. I strongly feel there will be war. China and Russia both are invading other countries already. The US is splitting at the seams (likely with some bot help from the two former groups). Ever since Hong Kong, I've been extra attentive and appreciative of the fact that this may be as close to peace as we will ever see the world again. This. Right now. This may be as close to peace as we will ever see again. Never-the-less, I have the utmost hope for project Earth, with or without humans.
- jimbob45 6y ago
  Nazi Germany taught everyone that you can’t win a war alone and I’m not sure world alliances are strong enough that we’re in a WW1 situation. Countries continue to get upsetti spaghetti over events like Crimea, killing Soleimani, and SA starting/stopping oil production but the alliances just aren't there to back up the anger.
  - elihu 6y ago
    I don't think a major war is imminent, but the other side of your argument is that the alliances aren't very strong at the moment to oppose aggression either.
- idoh 6y ago
  In the war that you foresee, who is fighting who?
- jjcon 6y ago
  Eh I doubt it - I think people are just anxious cause we’re all cooped up but give it a year or two and people will settle back down. Coronavirus seems to have brought out the worst of the media and the internet but the real world isn’t so different than it was.
  - meddlepal 6y ago
    Here's the thing... it really doesn't take much to set off a tinder box. Tensions are high, people are anxious, and there is a lot of pent up unrest. We are definitely at a potential flash point. So yea, I sort of agree, but I definitely also think the danger is higher than it seems.
pfranz 6y ago
What would students do with a gap year right now? Travel? Work full time (presumably in a face-to-face service job)? I would think the only real options would be to self study or play World of Warcraft. Generally, in an economic downturn people turn to education as a way to better themselves and wait out an economic recovery.
- esotericn 6y ago
  I can only speak for past/present me. Probably all three - travel, self study, read, etc. That's what I'd do. Then again, I'm thinking UK. The lockdowns here aren't such that you literally can't go outside, and the minimum cost of living (due to our safety nets) really isn't that high for a youngster willing to live on beans. Education is great. I'll be learning until my brain gives out on me. But if you want to tell me that my first year of university just became sitting in front of a screen and I'll be paying for it - yeah, sod that, I'll take the tent and the backpack and see you all when people have regained sanity. In the outside world (including University) people do things like obtaining life long friendships, meeting partners, generally just sniffing the flowers of life. If I had the pressure of my course and I was stuck in a box I'd go mental before week 3. No comraderie, no friends, nothing, it's all pixels mate. лол.

jonahbenton 6y ago

Not sarcastic or cynical- chaos and violence is in Trump's express interest. He and his cohort- Bannon et al- have been saying it out loud for a long time now. They are just not taken "literally or seriously."

jonahbenton 6y ago
Re: downvote- as a factual matter Trump and cohort are saying that chaos and violence are their goals and have been for a long time. Stop being in denial.
- well_that_sucks 6y ago
  link to evidence please
  - jonahbenton 6y ago
    Start with Josh Green. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/21/16000914/steve-bannon-devils-bargain-josh-green https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/21/16000914/s...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

deleted 6y ago

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shrimp_emoji 6y ago

Teenage me was checked out of reality and playing WoW on 20-hour shifts.

ericlewis 6y ago
one of many, but not all or most.

seph-reed 6y ago

War has been highly likely imminent since Crimea, but only overwhelmingly so (imo) since Hong Kong. I strongly feel there will be war. China and Russia both are invading other countries already. The US is splitting at the seams (likely with some bot help from the two former groups). Ever since Hong Kong, I've been extra attentive and appreciative of the fact that this may be as close to peace as we will ever see the world again. This. Right now. This may be as close to peace as we will ever see again. Never-the-less, I have the utmost hope for project Earth, with or without humans.

jimbob45 6y ago
Nazi Germany taught everyone that you can’t win a war alone and I’m not sure world alliances are strong enough that we’re in a WW1 situation. Countries continue to get upsetti spaghetti over events like Crimea, killing Soleimani, and SA starting/stopping oil production but the alliances just aren't there to back up the anger.
- elihu 6y ago
  I don't think a major war is imminent, but the other side of your argument is that the alliances aren't very strong at the moment to oppose aggression either.
idoh 6y ago
In the war that you foresee, who is fighting who?
jjcon 6y ago
Eh I doubt it - I think people are just anxious cause we’re all cooped up but give it a year or two and people will settle back down. Coronavirus seems to have brought out the worst of the media and the internet but the real world isn’t so different than it was.
- meddlepal 6y ago
  Here's the thing... it really doesn't take much to set off a tinder box. Tensions are high, people are anxious, and there is a lot of pent up unrest. We are definitely at a potential flash point. So yea, I sort of agree, but I definitely also think the danger is higher than it seems.

pfranz 6y ago

What would students do with a gap year right now? Travel? Work full time (presumably in a face-to-face service job)? I would think the only real options would be to self study or play World of Warcraft. Generally, in an economic downturn people turn to education as a way to better themselves and wait out an economic recovery.

esotericn 6y ago
I can only speak for past/present me. Probably all three - travel, self study, read, etc. That's what I'd do. Then again, I'm thinking UK. The lockdowns here aren't such that you literally can't go outside, and the minimum cost of living (due to our safety nets) really isn't that high for a youngster willing to live on beans. Education is great. I'll be learning until my brain gives out on me. But if you want to tell me that my first year of university just became sitting in front of a screen and I'll be paying for it - yeah, sod that, I'll take the tent and the backpack and see you all when people have regained sanity. In the outside world (including University) people do things like obtaining life long friendships, meeting partners, generally just sniffing the flowers of life. If I had the pressure of my course and I was stuck in a box I'd go mental before week 3. No comraderie, no friends, nothing, it's all pixels mate. лол.