Tuesday, December 13, 2011

IN DEFENSE OF AMERICAN YOUTH

To NFO and those who agree with his recent post:

I realize you're reprinting what someone else said, but because you and a number of other people seem to be in agreement that this post is excellent, I feel I must say something about it. My daughter is a 25-year-old graduate student. Although she's not part of occupy Wall Street, she does attend the University of California at Berkeley.

I don't care for the generalization and the implication that "America's youth" does not care about or support the military. My child is the granddaughter of a veteran of World War II, the granddaughter of a veteran from the time of the Korean Conflict, the niece of a Gulf War veteran, and the daughter of a veteran. If any child was brought up to appreciate the military, she was.

I am particularly offended by the following statement: "The 99 percent demands that the government pay back their student loans, often for expensive degrees in academic fields not adequate to compete in today’s tough employment market."

When my daughter was an undergraduate student, she worked as a server in a Chinese restaurant, tutored students, and worked as a mentor for math classes. She has paid for her entire education on her own. She did not even accept my offer of money to pay for her textbooks each semester. Yes, she has student loans, but she knows she'll be paying them back. She certainly does not have a $300 phone. She now gets by on fellowships, and by teaching and tutoring.

The protests on the Berkeley campus frighten my daughter; however, she is not afraid of the protesters. She is afraid of the police, who injured a 70-year-old Pulitzer Prize winning poet, among other innocent people. She stays away from the part of campus where the protesters are to make sure she isn't pepper sprayed or beaten, although she has done nothing wrong and the protesters are peaceful.

As for her expensive degrees that supposedly might leave her unable to compete in the job market, as an undergraduate she majored in mathematics and physics. She graduated first in her class. Her closest friends majored in chemistry, biology, pre-med . . . all fields in which American students have trouble competing with their counterparts from European and Asian countries. After going to class and working at one or two jobs, she stayed up until 2 a.m. to study -- every night -- and graduated with the highest grade point average in her class.

Although she attended a small Midwestern liberal arts school, she was accepted to the Ph.D. program in mathematics at Berkeley. She deferred for a year to get the equivalent of a master's degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. Now in her third year at Berkeley, she works nearly non-stop to be at the top of her field. She rarely takes a day off. She visited me for three days last spring and worked on her mathematics at least part of every day during her visit.

Do you really think that you'll be flying new and improved jets without students such as my daughter? Or do you prefer that the improvements to technology in America come from other countries? We need mathematicians, physicists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists; and she and her friends are receiving excellent educations in these fields.

The writer of your post uses "let's feel sorry for the military" logic to attack the so-called 99%. Well, my daughter and her friends are not part of the 99%, and they are not part of the 1% in the military. Does this make them non-existent?

I don't want to see the military's budget cut, but if it is, it is not the fault of the students who are working so hard to get an education so they can be America's future.

I will not sit back and allow anyone to portray my daughter and the students with whom she works as free-loaders receiving useless educations.

Infinities of love to my daughter and so many other excellent students,

Lola


P.S. And on a lighter note, I want to recommend a blog I should have told you about sooner: Paige Kellerman -- There's More Where That Came From.
 Paige is so funny I almost hate her. Nobody should ever be funnier than I am, but she does it consistently (I'm a little competitive). Paige is merely funny some weeks and other weeks she's almost pee my pants funny, my stomach hurts funny, and I'm afraid I'll fart and blush in the presence of my gentleman friend funny.

20 comments:

  1. I'm just tired of the "percenters" staking false claims based on dumbed-down analyses. It's political and dishonest. McKeon is a master politician. Everything he said is true, but you'll notice he didn't quite say that the 99% is at odds with HIS 1%. He just discussed two separate topics and allowed us to assume a connection.

    If a couple of retarded anti-military professors remotely associate themselves with the occupiers, the occupiers obviously agree with them. OMG! OWS hates the military!

    This is called a logical fallacy, but we fall for it every time. That way, instead of analyzing real issues, we all get riled up and "Take A Stand" for our percent. Anyone who contradicts us must be a "Them."

    By using this tactic, McKeon has shown himself to be a textbook example of a "purveyor of power," not because he's military, but because he has something to gain from muddying the waters. We all have buttons, and politicians know haw to push them.

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  2. Sounds like a huge load of crap, expect nothing less from politicans though. They are just trying to get noticed by spurting out some useless nonsense and riling people up.

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  3. Wow, heavy stuff to wake up to!

    Having said that, I wonder how many will think from now on that "the 1%" indeed refers to the military! Ridiculous.

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  4. Interesting post!
    Nice blog.
    +Follow

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  5. I'm 23 and a student. I work full time during the day and go to school right after work for 2 hours. I work hard and may have to sacrifice some fancy shoes or a dinner at a post restaurant with friends, but I'm paying for my school. I think that a lot of people live life just making it by and spitting out excuses. What you put into the universe is what you get back. Work hard, and it will pay off.

    I agree with everything that you said here. Very well put!

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  6. You have every right to be damn proud of your daughter as I am damn proud of my husband. Nice response Lola! (oh, and it's so not fair how funny Paige is! Conspiracy I tell you!)

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  7. Paige is a genius and I feel the same way. Why does she have to be so much funnier than I am. As for the rest of your post.. I think the other author may have some facts screwed and misspoke. I doubt the numbers of ingrates are that high. However there is a tendency with some of the younger generation to expect all for nothing. Not your kid or her friends but many of the others I come in contact with.

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  8. You, SUZ & your other commenters said it all for me!!

    (& Paige IS hysterical!)

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  9. Suz, Excellent analysis! Thank you.

    Pat, You got it, sweetie.

    Mr. Fox, No doubt a number of McKeon's followers will spread the word that the military is the 1%.

    GT, Thank you.

    R, Thanks!

    Ms. Fun, Yet another hard-working student.

    Princess, Isn't it wonderful to feel so good about the people we love? And I'm so glad you understand about the darn Paige.

    Melynda, We can't have an anti-Paige club when we love her so much. It's not fair. And yes, there are free loaders among young people, but I don't want my daughter and other good students lumped in with them.

    fishducky, I welcome your approval, as always.

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  10. Could you be any sweeter? You try to pretend you're grumpy, but it's only to cover up all your awesomeness! I knew it!!...*trying not to blush* Thank you so much for such a wonderful mention, and brightening up my Tuesday considerably ...:)

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  11. Paige, If I were any sweeter, all the men who kiss me would have diabetes. Oh! They do! Dear me. Now tone down that funny, bitch! There now. Doesn't that sound grumpy? I am one of the seven dwarfs, but I'm Sleazy.

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  12. I think that dickwad should be reminded that those spoiled brat protesters are able to protest without being shot at because of the 1%. They are the first of the 'everyone gets a trophy' generation. They have been give everything by their parents or the government all their life and have never had to face the hard fact that life is hell. You have to work to get what you want. Not cry and pout and expect the government to give it to you. Besides, the instigators have been identified as communist anyway. I have a great respect for your daughter and her work ethic...and for you in raising her to have that ethic.
    LYLT

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  13. Coffey, Please keep in mind that McKeon has twisted the facts. People are protesting because the Have Nots have so very little compared to the Haves. The Haves are the 1% -- NOT the military. The protesters are not there to protest against the military. A couple of anti-military comments does not a protest make. I resent McKeon's dishonesty and his attempt to draw a conclusion where there is none. And I don't like having my baby lumped in with a group that doesn't even exist.

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  14. Interested yet a lot of strong opinions!

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  15. Copyboy, Indeed. I usually stay away from politics on my blog, but I couldn't allow someone to twist the truth this way without getting my panties in a bunch, which irritates the heck out of me, and then I HAVE to say something.

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  16. LOLA, I agree and wish everyone would really stop and think before hitting copy and paste. There are people behind the numbers and statistics. And truth that needs to be told.
    As a college student of the '60's I worry every time I see these college demonstrations. Kent State was a true tragedy and I see it happening again in the climate we are now live.

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  17. Sush, Kent State has been on my mind since my daughter emailed me videos of the police beating innocent people on the Berkeley campus. She told me that one day she had to go to the part of the campus where the protests are, and I was so upset. She's totally innocent, but that's no protection. I thank God she's about to leave town for a month. Maybe things will settle down before she returns. Buzz McKeon has no right saying that the students are opposed to the military and that they're a bunch of spoiled brats. He obviously has no clue how hard some people work to obtain an education, and he definitely twists the reason for the protests.

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  18. I guess I don't exist either ;)

    Sincerely,
    A woman who is still paying off her student loans.

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  19. Elisa, It's a shame you don't exist because I like you so much. I guess you're my imaginary friend.

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Got your panties in a bunch? Dig 'em out, get comfortable, and let's chat.