These days, high school and college grads are feeling the pain of the most devastating recession since the Great Depression, but all things are relative. Back when I was in college, we had to deal with the possibility of the military draft being reinstated if the Gulf War had not gone exactly as hoped. When we graduated, we were already in a recession, and the recovery was yet another bleak one that took several years. In the process, the sinking reality was that our prosperity would never match that of the previous two generations (the post-war and baby boomer), as the great economic expansion was already slowing down. In no short reason, the rise of China coincided with the slowdown of the American Dream.
Today I look around, and I see two classes of people: those who believe that life is itself its own reward, and those who are obsessed with money and finding more of it.
I fit within the former; I do not chase money; if it finds me, it's serendipity. I have struggled with this idea of selling out all my life.
To this end, I think most of my decisions, likes and dislikes fit within this framework. Winona Ryder is my (fake but heartfelt) love. Her choice between selling out (or selling yourself short) or sticking with the idealistic but morally incorruptible life in the movie Reality Bites, echoes the choices we all face.
Mom: "Why don't you get a job at the Burgerrama? They'll hire you! My Lord, I saw on the TV - they had this little retarded boy working the register."
Daughter: "Because I'm not retarded, mom. I was the valedictorian of my university."
Dad: "Well you dont have to put that on your application."
No comments:
Post a Comment