The Great American Sellout
Recent turmoil in the northern parts of Africa and in the Middle East have sent a clear message to autocratic regimes; students and the educated lower-middle class are rising up. It is said that during a recent protest, the crowd appeared replete with hair-band wigs and fingerless gloves for a stirring rendition of that Twisted Sister classic that embodies their movement.
Did that really happen? No. But it sounds more exciting than, “Generational, class, and culture conflicts are stirring the middle class to topple a regime which has become more and more autocratic over three decades of U.S. support.” And while American pundits scramble for the latest headline, the whole ordeal has got me to thinking: Why are we still takin’ it? Isn’t this a democratic country? Don’t we have the power (nay, the responsibility!) to shake off the dust and get our country moving?
But seriously, why are we so demotivated? There are more students in the United States than in any other country. In home videos from our parents’ era students are taking radical action to get their points across. Today, we grumble about a lack of parking spaces at a university whose parking capacity is probably 60% underutilized. Even on such petty issues students are treated with no respect. What happened to the fear of retribution? What happened to responsive administrations who knew students held the fate of the future in their hands?
I’ll tell you what happened: the Great American Sellout. It’s ingrained in our culture. Because the governors who allowed higher education budgets to plummet following the 1960’s student movements and the lawmakers who still don’t stop educational institutions from raping us were students once, too. They’ve been there and done that; surely they sympathize with us when we tell them education is too expensive and today’s educational access standards are outdated and too rigid to keep us competitive…right? Right?
Wrong. Lawmakers and administrators don’t care about students anymore; they aren’t students themselves. Like upperclassmen in high school, they couldn’t care less about the poor freshmen suffering through the hazing rituals that “build character” and “add to the experience.” Last I checked, though, unavoidable, crippling debt weren’t part of high school hazing rituals. It’s not entirely their fault, either: students have sold out hard, too.
Too many of us are complacent about this. Sometimes we even get happy about things like the governor raising education spending by 2.9% this year. Sure, it sounds good, but read on. And I quote, “a 2.9 percent increase would be enough to maintain school funding at constitutionally adequate levels” (Senate’s Weekly Update). Are you joking?! You’re only increasing state education funding because you’re constitutionally required to? To put it in perspective, state prisons are slated to receive increased funding this year, too; however, the 2.2% increase there is totally optional and not constitutionally mandated.
So why aren’t we ticked off? Because there’s “financial aid” out there. Who remembers when the lottery scholarship idea was floated around? It sounded great: everyone who qualified would get one. But it didn’t work out that way, did it? And no one even mentioned that little hiccup. Those that were angry about a lack of transparency in the selection process and the still-murky goings-on at the Department of Higher Education and the Lottery Commission were paid off by being allowed to pick up a scholarship in the spring after those “more qualified scholars” dropped or failed out of school. Not to mention that the lottery scholarships don’t come close to covering the cost of college, and even with a Pell Grant the money will be eaten up soon enough by tuition and fees, leaving students to fend for themselves when it comes to room, board, books, and gas. But this year the generous people at the federal student loan program are automatically crediting our student accounts with loan money! I hear they’re also handing out shackles at no charge and trading belly-lint for souls.
 |
Big hair. Fingerless gloves.
Revolution.
|
So listen up, kids. I’m not advocating any kind of violent upheaval. But at this point a twitch of student discomfort would be a huge change of pace. We need to get back to a position of influence and activism. Our freedoms have inspired other parts of the world to act; let’s take a lesson now from them. It’s time to bust out the hair-band wigs and fingerless gloves, people. You gotta fight for your right to party. We’re not gonna take it anymore. Rock the boat. You don’t have to be original. Just be ticked off. And for God’s sake let someone know about it.
