I like to consider myself a level-headed, rational person; someone who isn’t easily swept up into fervor or misled by the charismatic. Being on a major college campus has certainly put these traits to the test. Massive emotional appeals rock the campus constantly, and appeals to donate to many organizations are commonplace; my lack of unconditional support of every such endeavor has damaged some of my relationships. However weak the premise, I can never effectively reveal the falsity of the claims; to even try is to be ostracized. Lately “sex trafficking” hysteria has become more and more prevalent here, and speakers are coming to ply their trade. How I should try to educate my peers? I loathe misinformation in all its forms, but I am not so charming a person as to be able to sway the opinions of the passionate.
Many beside yourself have commented on the sad fact that the modern university campus is not only inhospitable, but actively hostile to free speech and rational thought. A whole organization, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, exists to fight the top-down abuses, but unfortunately they can’t do much about peer-to-peer behavior. You didn’t mention your course of study, but even if you’re in the sciences that doesn’t protect you from the irrational belief-systems of everyone else; even science students and some full-fledged scientists can be incredibly irrational about subjects other than their own (during my time at UNO there was a tenured chemistry professor who was a well-known creationist).
Don’t feel bad because you aren’t able to fight disinformation single-handedly; though there are a few people who can do that, they are driven in a way that most of us simply aren’t. Even the most dedicated and skilled campaigners need a support network, others who see things in at least a similar way and will fight alongside them. A lot of people view me as larger than life, but in truth I need that support just like everyone else does; if it weren’t for the readers who praise my work and the fellow-activists who brace me up in areas where I’m weak, I might have quit long ago. So in order to effectively oppose “sex trafficking”, other moral panics and the host of other ridiculous beliefs which infest modern Western culture, you need a group of like-minded others. I’ll bet there are a lot more students (and faculty) who feel the same way as you do than you might imagine; the reason you don’t know about them is that like you, they don’t want to be ostracized. Human beings have a powerful need for the approval of peers, and fanatics take advantage of that to silence their critics; what you therefore need is your own group of peers who will “have your back” when you’re attacked. Does your campus have a skeptic’s society or the like? If so, you might consider joining it, and if not, why not start one? You may still have to fight “sex trafficking” beliefs even within such a club, but at least there you’ll have the advantage of dealing with people who can be reasoned with, and who can be swayed by presenting facts from the many academics, activists and other writers who oppose the panic (there are many good articles on my Resources page). If your group is large enough, you can probably come up with the means to print flyers or posters to counter prohibitionist claims, and perhaps even get your own speakers to counter the hysterics’ “trafficking” porn. I’m not telling you it will be easy, but with enough help and support it will at least be possible. And though you won’t win overnight, time is on your side: moral panics have a limited life span, and as time goes on you’ll find increasing numbers are listening to the truth rather than wallowing in hysteria.
(Have a question of your own? Please consult this page to see if I’ve answered it in a previous column, and if not just click here to ask me via email.)
I think the college campuses are such a cesspool of marxism – you’d need a drysuit and a four-year supply of oxygen piped in to survive it.
I don’t even know what it’s worth anymore. Engineering schools are fine and those students have a hard enough curriculum that they don’t have the time to worry about politics. Same for pre-med … and nursing programs tend to be full of people who have a tangible goal. And those programs – those degrees – pay well.
But the liberal arts stuff? Honestly – why bother? That’s all pretty much near minimum wage and it’s just not a good investment of your time (imo). Kinda crazy you’d pay that much money for a degree that earns that little while an engineering student pays the same and his / her degree is worth so much more in the real world.
I played with it. I’m like the worst at math so couldn’t do the engineering stuff. Tried liberal arts – history … journalism … even worked as a cameraman for a local TV station for a good bit. Then I looked at what people were making with communication, RTF, English, and History degrees and knew I was in the wrong place. Only thing I missed about college after I left it were the girls – and I missed them something fierce!
One way colleges continue to impact politics is to give certain political actors a podium and a steady income. Imagine if Gail Dines had to go get a job at Wal*Mart.
Now, after the warm, happy feelings associated with that image have faded, we’ll see that the practical effect would be she wouldn’t be able to spend her every waking moment as a professional scourge against the sex trade. As a college professor, however, everything she does seems to fall into the category of “it’s her job.” So she can spend all her time doing activism, and none stocking shelves. (People actually in the sex trade actually have to do work, even if they are in the currently decriminalized side of the business, they can’t just spend all their time on activism.)
Due to recent, but fading history (from my childhood but not the childhood’s of most current college students) college political activism looms larger in the public mind than it should. The 60’s are long over, and count as olden times to most modern college students (the 70’s too for that matter… I feel old). In those days, radical protests by radicalized college students had an impact on society. Nowadays they’ll just get you a face-full of pepper spray and abrasions from zip cuffs. I suggest cynicism is a good approach to dealing with people pushing political causes you are actually against. Mock their chances of success. If you are feeling mischievous say, “I don’t want to end up on some government blacklist somewhere, you’re very brave.” (Most of these people and causes are either too favored by the government or too irrelevant to be put on a blacklist. The glow they’ll get from the idea that they are “fighting the power,” may get them to back off and leave you alone though.)
However, you can still learn how to do politics on campus, provided your political and history courses are taught by competent professors (a possibly dicey proposition), and maybe get some practical experience by getting involved in causes that interest you. Maybe.
That reminds me of the first Gulf War – which I wasn’t a part of (to my chagrin) – I was stationed in San Diego – there were two days after we deployed troops where UCSD students “blocked” (with their bodies) I-5 … and it took me HOURS to get home after work. I remember thinking … “these little bitches don’t have a care in the world – and they want to block ME, a working man, from getting home after a day of work?”
Secular Student Alliance (secularstudents.org) may be helpful.
I’ve been pestered into going to college from my family on numerous occasions, but finally found some much-needed vindication for not going. Higher education these days is neither for reasons that Krulac has already explained. Honestly, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, and Paul Allen dropped out because it was getting them nowhere fast; Bill Cosby was already a successful comedian while he has getting his PhD. in education; and many of the best golden age animators never went to college including Milt Kahl, Irven Spence, Carlo Vinci, and Ralph Bakshi. (Though Kahl resented that he wasn’t able to go.)
I think college is great for a lot of people … but it’s something you need to sit down and “think out” – deliberately. “Why am I going?” Is it because society tells you that you’re a “loser” if you don’t? Or is there something concrete that you want to accomplish there? If you want a liberal arts degree – great, if you’re prepared to deal with the high cost / low return on that kind of investment. I knew a lot of girls who were just there to meet a husband – and the pickings are probably good there. You have to be somewhat squared away to even get in so the quality of available men is probably better on the average.
But I met DOZENS of college grads that came to my ship when I was a Command Master Chief who had joined the Navy to be DECK SEAMEN. That is the most labor intensive and dirtiest of all the jobs on a Navy ship. I used to ask them … “Why did you ENLIST to come here?” I got back answers like … “Well I got a shitty degree that doesn’t pay.” Another one I got frequently was … “I’m tens of thousands of dollars in debt on college loans and the Navy has offered to pay some of that off for me – because I’ll never be able to.” That latter answer is the one that made me the angriest because …
College is “sold” to our kids as something you MUST have. Remember John Kerry when he said something like … “If you’re smart – you go to college and – if you’re not – you go to Iraq.” Remember that? Kid’s don’t even question that logic so they sign aboard a train of thought that leads a good number of them into financial ruin before they’ve even begun their lives.
And this whole thing where all degrees cost the same – an Electrical Engineering degree … same as a degree in “Women and Gender Studies”. What in the fuck kind of Marxist bullshit is THAT?? I go to a car dealer – if he were to try to sell me a Ford Fiesta at the same price as a Ford Mustang – he’d have every law enforcement and consumer agency on his back in a heartbeat – yet colleges get away with doing EXACTLY that – and no one says a word.
The CNO tried to make it so that every Master Chief in the Navy had a bachelor’s degree. Everyone thought that was a great idea – even the Admiral I worked for. He asked me about it and I said … “That’s shit”. Then I told him … you have five or six officers in your office that you can sit around and talk to about politics, or world affairs, or statistics and whatnot. Why would you want to talk to ME about those things? My job here is to keep you plugged into the deck plate and how Sailors feel and react to the things you do – and my job is to recommend things you can do to make your command more cohesive – and my job is to recommend to you what punishment you should “award” to a Sailor who’s committed an offense. I DON’T NEED A DEGREE TO DO THAT!
In the end – college was just not for me. I’ve thought about going back – but for what? My math still sucks. If I went back – it might be for a music degree but that would simply for my own enjoyment – I’d never earn any money with it.
My nature – I have a technical skill equal to a two-year degree and I use it a lot. But – at my work – a lot of guys have that skill and would rather do it than the more laborious stuff that we do. Me? I LOVE the laborious stuff – I love getting hot and sweaty – or working out in the elements in the frigid Arctic – I can’t really describe the feeling I get from that but, for me – it just make me GLAD to be alive and be able to do it. I want to do it forever. And why not? I pretty good money doing it! 🙂
Mike Rowe says it best … “Follow your passion? That’s the worst advice I ever got!” Long and hilarious …
“Demonizing Work”
It really depends on what you want to do. Liberal arts is only good if you are really good at something in there in particular and really, really do want to do it. Very few people are. And if you are really good at it, you should get a scholarship and go to one of the really good places for that particular specialty, which, dependent on the particular art, may mean abroad.
If you want to do something from the engineering or science fields, there really is no choice, you need that education. Very, very few people manage without it and they have a problem for most of their careers later on. It is not that you need all you learn in academic studies for that subject, you just have no clue what 5% you will later need and you learn a lot about what approaches to learning work for you and which ones do not. But be sure you actually have the required talent and be prepared to work really hard, at least initially. The way to think is really a lot different and you need to master it.
As to the people you quote, these dropouts might have gotten rich, but except for Woz, they botched most things they did and were basically very lucky they made it at all. That type of luck is very, very unlikely to come your way.
So, if you really want to study some specific subject, it is incredibly much harder and often impossible to do so without starting in an academic environment. If, however, this is just about getting some (any) academic credentials, it is a waste of time. The degree may open some doors, but whether these are the ones you are interested in is a different question.
Hi Maggie,
HELP! I know this is off topic for this topic but there is a short window of opportuninty.
An interesting thread just opened up.
http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/4994157/gonew/1/Should_Prostitution_Be_Legal?#UNREAD
I’m not good enough. 🙁
“I am not so charming a person as to be able to sway the opinions of the passionate”
It’s not possible to sway the opinions of the partisans. The target is *always* the unconvinced, the undecided, the possibly sensible people *watching* the debate. Keep your cool. Demonstrate that the believers are nuts.
I’d tend to start by demonstrating just how ridiculous the numbers are. If there really are *that* many trafficked child prostitutes, then how many johns must there be to make the business economic? What’s that, as a proportion of the suitably-aged male population?
The other obvious point is weasel-words. “Up to X children are under threat of exploitation”.
The way I’ve found to get around that problem is to look for web forums — for instance this one — where the people who agree with you hang out. Eventually you’ll hear from someone nearby, or discover a link that helps.