while waiting in line at the grocery store yesterday, i was subjected to the inarticulate and uninformed diatribe of the bagger-boy as he tried to wax political with the cashier. the two appeared to be debating their views of the bush presidency, and the cashier, an early 20-something college student, was questioning the validity of bush's hunt through iraq to locate his elusive weapons of mass destruction. the bagger-boy, either in his late-teens or early 20s, was an obvious card-carrying member of the bush/cheney fan club. his argument went something like this...
cashier: ...didn't we just go to war to attack a country based on unfounded suspicions of weapons we can't find?
bagger-boy: see... that's the problem with you college kids. you go to college and your professors brainwash you. you don't need any of that - all you need is the history channel.
what? what year is it? what country are we in? i could not believe the way this kid was disparaging the concept of higher education, choosing to believe that college was just a chance for people to get together and make shit up. now, i have nothing against non-conventional learners, but this dude was no will hunting. and i have no doubt that there is some interesting information to be gleaned from the programming on the history channel, but can it replace a spirited debate? does it provide a forum for interaction and the exchange of ideas? can you converse with the experts or submit your own programs for equal consideration?
without even getting into the terrifying notion of people being led blindly by the media, the fact that this individual so totally and blatantly discounted the value of college - and more than that, the value of exploration, discussion and debate - was shocking. 9:29 PM //
0 comments
********************** currently listening to...
* Ryan Adams Cardinology
* Melissa Ferrick In The Eyes Of Strangers
* Chris O' Brien Lighthouse
* Juno Soundtrack
