Post by phoebeross on Aug 3, 2011 12:13:07 GMT -5
One of the greatest competitions happens at the beginning of every year, where students list all the games they’ve won, the clubs they’ve headed, and the awards they’ve accumulated. This is the time when the long nights of studying for your perfect GPA and ACT scores have payed off. This is the college game, and the winners are David Brooks organization kids. “The Organization Kid” delineates the tale of my generation’s education and growth from start-to Princeton. Here, is where Brooks discovers “the young people who are going to be running our country in a few decades.” He does this by getting the faculty’s recommendation on “a few dozen articulate students.” Then, the author is surprised when Princeton’s articulate means rule abiding, high grades, and immaculate dress. Brooks’s foundation for his research is not only flawed, but his conclusions are not entirely sound.
David Brooks blames the creation of the organization generation on American parents and society. As a student who found Brook’s organization kid within themselves, what I did not find familiar was the parents and society he blamed. Yes, my mother did play Vivaldi to her stomach, and I was familiar with most of Mozart’s work from one month old. However, my own parents never pressured me to succeed with grades, or forced me into the sports. Yet, I get good grades, and play sports I don’t necessarily like, just for the college game. The students at Princeton Brooks described aren’t the future leaders of my generation, not for sure. They are the winners of the college game. Brooks explains the organization kid’s subdued behavior with their upbringing, “The world they live in seems fundamentally just. If you work hard, behave pleasantly, explore your interests, volunteer your time... you’ll be rewarded... in the social hierarchy.” However, since Brooks only based his research off of Princeton’s articulate, I don’t think he can generalize my generation like that. The students at Princeton are just the one’s who figured out the organization education, and played it best. We cannot blame society, or the parents, but the education system. Because these behaviors are rewarded, these behaviors are the ones students wishing to manipulate the educational system, not necessarily students who have everything, have adopted.
Brooks also blames a change in generation for the organization kid, and gives many examples of the changes. However, the example most prominent was David Brooks himself. Brooks glorifies past generations who fought for change, and claims the organization kid has nothing to fight for, “democracy and dictatorship are no longer engaged in an epic struggle... capitalism is so triumphant that we barely even contemplate an alternative.” However, 2001 has world events just like any other year which defined the still continuing struggle for democracy. In 2001, rebels throughout the Middle East and Africa were fighting for independence. 2001 was also a year the US sat out on the Kyoto protocol, and one of the toughest years for US-Chinese relationships. There was plenty for students to be enraged about, if chosen. Brooks says the organization kids do not understand the rebellious symbols, “It’s natural that hippies work at ad agencies and found organic-ice-cream companies, and that hi-tech entrepreneurs quote Dylan... it’s natural parents should listen to Led Zeppelin , Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors.” These symbols have not lost relevance to students because rebellion has died, they have lost relevance because they’re of a past generation-like Brooks.
Brooks created the organization kid, but did not look very far for its origins. We find them not in a better society or different parents, but in a change in what our educational system values.
David Brooks blames the creation of the organization generation on American parents and society. As a student who found Brook’s organization kid within themselves, what I did not find familiar was the parents and society he blamed. Yes, my mother did play Vivaldi to her stomach, and I was familiar with most of Mozart’s work from one month old. However, my own parents never pressured me to succeed with grades, or forced me into the sports. Yet, I get good grades, and play sports I don’t necessarily like, just for the college game. The students at Princeton Brooks described aren’t the future leaders of my generation, not for sure. They are the winners of the college game. Brooks explains the organization kid’s subdued behavior with their upbringing, “The world they live in seems fundamentally just. If you work hard, behave pleasantly, explore your interests, volunteer your time... you’ll be rewarded... in the social hierarchy.” However, since Brooks only based his research off of Princeton’s articulate, I don’t think he can generalize my generation like that. The students at Princeton are just the one’s who figured out the organization education, and played it best. We cannot blame society, or the parents, but the education system. Because these behaviors are rewarded, these behaviors are the ones students wishing to manipulate the educational system, not necessarily students who have everything, have adopted.
Brooks also blames a change in generation for the organization kid, and gives many examples of the changes. However, the example most prominent was David Brooks himself. Brooks glorifies past generations who fought for change, and claims the organization kid has nothing to fight for, “democracy and dictatorship are no longer engaged in an epic struggle... capitalism is so triumphant that we barely even contemplate an alternative.” However, 2001 has world events just like any other year which defined the still continuing struggle for democracy. In 2001, rebels throughout the Middle East and Africa were fighting for independence. 2001 was also a year the US sat out on the Kyoto protocol, and one of the toughest years for US-Chinese relationships. There was plenty for students to be enraged about, if chosen. Brooks says the organization kids do not understand the rebellious symbols, “It’s natural that hippies work at ad agencies and found organic-ice-cream companies, and that hi-tech entrepreneurs quote Dylan... it’s natural parents should listen to Led Zeppelin , Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors.” These symbols have not lost relevance to students because rebellion has died, they have lost relevance because they’re of a past generation-like Brooks.
Brooks created the organization kid, but did not look very far for its origins. We find them not in a better society or different parents, but in a change in what our educational system values.