this album, which wholly changed my perception of music, turns 20 today.
still blows my mind. still sounds different from anything out there.
+
- Unions are the reason you get paid a minimum wage at all
- Taxes subsidize your moderately-priced, in-state public university
- Wow, I wonder if you lived at home and had parents or guardians paying your living expenses so you could start saving for college?
- 95% of scholarships go to white people like you
- Have fun looking for a job after college, blowing through all your savings, and finally realizing what it’s like to live in the real world. You are the 99%. You just don’t know it yet.
I’m a college freshman who’s probably set to be in about the same situation as you (though this is tentative, as life is very volatile & I acknowledge how fortunate I am each & every day), but even I’m not ignorant enough to assume that this is even feasible for the majority of people ESPECIALLY post-graduation. Yeah, cool, we both worked hard, but scholarships are not going to be able to help EVERYONE out, even if they all work hard & “do all the right things” because donor money runs out fast & competition, by default excludes many. And even then, not everyone is going to be physically, emotionally, economically, socially (or otherwise) able to do all the right things, but should they be barred from college — from educating themselves because they didn’t start out with a running start? You’re ignoring the systematic, widespread consequences of crippling student debt compounded by rising tuition costs & a society that tells us that we “need” to go to college to get a job, without actually owning up to its promises of providing those jobs. Our cases are entirely the exception, not the rule, & glossing over scores of problems with the system to hold up your story as proof that it works is not accurate at all, & quite condescending. The perceived “American Dream” seems very real to some people, but this is entirely an illusion. The cases that seem to hold up this illusion are actually receiving a lot more assistance than most would admit because we ALL benefit from society — some just more than others. I will openly say I’m entirely fortunate & privileged. But that doesn’t mean I think everyone has the means to get there. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help others & fix the system. It means I want change, because I could just as easily be in the same place.
+
