Post by niastallworth on Aug 9, 2011 10:02:10 GMT -5
"The Organization Kid" by David Brooks is an article about the lifestyles of the modern college student. This aspect of the article that I most disagreed with was the author's constant criticism of the modern student's ethical choices. After reading "The End of Solitude", "Is Google Making Us Stupid", and "The Organization Kid", I realized that each one these articles were written from the perspective an older generation. Brooks, Deresiewicz and Carr all wrote articles criticizing the youth of today and constantly compared us to the youth of the 60s and 70s.
With the modern technology, we are now globally connected, which means the students of the United States are not only competing with one another but with other countries also. Therefore, we have to work at least three times harder than the previous generations, so we can try to keep the United States as one of the best countries. If we, as young Americans were to revert beck to the scholastic ways of the sixties and seventies then who would run this country in the future. The times have changed dramatically, in the new millenia,we are expected to fix all of the problems caused by the older generations. From Global Warming to Illegal Immigration we are the ones ultimately responsible for resolving all these issues.
Brooks, also goes on to criticize the lack of protesting in the prestigious schools such as Princeton University. In the article he states, "I often heard at Princeton a verbal tic to be found in model young people these days: if someone is about to disagree with someone else in a group, he or she will apologize beforehand, and will couch the disagreement in the most civil, nonconfrontational terms available. These students are also extremely respectful of authority, treating their professors as one might treat a CEO or a division head at a company meeting", when describing a typical Princeton student's way of avoiding confrontation ways. I really do not see the problem in not questioning authority or protesting. Furthermore, when judging the lack of rebellion from the student body, Brooks fails to give any solid examples of serious actions taken by the school that would cause an uproar amongst the students. The only example he gave was about the Nude Olympics, I mean what reasonable student would fight the administration and risk severe penalties over the outlawing of a Nude Olympics. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s the college students did have many reasons to be rebellious against authority, but thanks to those students, we are now able to focus more uniting and less on rebelling.
In conclusion, Brooks has presented a very weak and skewed argument against the youth of today's work ethic. "The Organization Kid" did nothing except criticize the choices of the modern college students, mainly the meritocratic elite. Our generation is a very focused and determined one, dedicated to achieving goals and succeeding. It upsets me that someone would find fault with the work ethic of the modern college student, when they have done nothing but try to better themselves. In a generation plagued with serious issues such as drugs and violence, being a workaholic seems to be a very insignificant issue of today's youth.
With the modern technology, we are now globally connected, which means the students of the United States are not only competing with one another but with other countries also. Therefore, we have to work at least three times harder than the previous generations, so we can try to keep the United States as one of the best countries. If we, as young Americans were to revert beck to the scholastic ways of the sixties and seventies then who would run this country in the future. The times have changed dramatically, in the new millenia,we are expected to fix all of the problems caused by the older generations. From Global Warming to Illegal Immigration we are the ones ultimately responsible for resolving all these issues.
Brooks, also goes on to criticize the lack of protesting in the prestigious schools such as Princeton University. In the article he states, "I often heard at Princeton a verbal tic to be found in model young people these days: if someone is about to disagree with someone else in a group, he or she will apologize beforehand, and will couch the disagreement in the most civil, nonconfrontational terms available. These students are also extremely respectful of authority, treating their professors as one might treat a CEO or a division head at a company meeting", when describing a typical Princeton student's way of avoiding confrontation ways. I really do not see the problem in not questioning authority or protesting. Furthermore, when judging the lack of rebellion from the student body, Brooks fails to give any solid examples of serious actions taken by the school that would cause an uproar amongst the students. The only example he gave was about the Nude Olympics, I mean what reasonable student would fight the administration and risk severe penalties over the outlawing of a Nude Olympics. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s the college students did have many reasons to be rebellious against authority, but thanks to those students, we are now able to focus more uniting and less on rebelling.
In conclusion, Brooks has presented a very weak and skewed argument against the youth of today's work ethic. "The Organization Kid" did nothing except criticize the choices of the modern college students, mainly the meritocratic elite. Our generation is a very focused and determined one, dedicated to achieving goals and succeeding. It upsets me that someone would find fault with the work ethic of the modern college student, when they have done nothing but try to better themselves. In a generation plagued with serious issues such as drugs and violence, being a workaholic seems to be a very insignificant issue of today's youth.