Sunday, May 15, 2005

An Additional Bit of Advice

Yournamehere had this great post about graduation. This is a super post filled with they type of advice that most of us wouldn't give recent graduates who are starry eyed and wanting to change the world. It's great that he makes you see through some of those iconic images we are all so familiar with and essentially reduces them to .... well .... whores. Now he has done a much better job than I have of putting some advice out there. But, the Devil has a bit of advice for you recent graduates himself. Some of these are those cheesy things your folks tell you, but maybe if a bitter recent graduate tells you, it might sink in.

1. Keep in touch with your friends from college.This is obvious because you never know when you might need a reference. Of course, there is the whole speel about friends forever and so on. BUT, there is nothing worse in this world than having to go back over a bridge you have burned down. When you fuck someone over, memory is a bitch.

2. Believe in something. I don't give a damn if its God, Buddha, fairies, imps, the X-Men, etc.. Just have something to guide yourself on the path of life. Remember, what works for you isn't what will necessarily work for me (yeah, I see the irony of giving advice with this line of thought). There is an old Zen saying .. "There are many paths to the mountain's summit; yet the same moonlight shines over each one."

3. Leave things a little better than you found them. A simple creed, a simple thought. Everywhere you go, everything you do, everyone you meet ... leave that place, that activity, or that person a little better for having had you around. No, that doesn't mean putting up a new Gap or Banana Republic or Starbucks. Volunteer to do something that doesn't benefit you directly. You'd be amazed at how much you might enjoy it.

4. Find what makes you happy and do it. I went to law school hesitantly. Do you know a big part of why I did go? Because I didn't think I'd be able to make a living if I would've went after my PhD in Sociology. Now I work a job where I'm miserable from time to time. The money is decent, but everyday I have to swallow my pride a bit more, help out some of the sleaziest characters on the face of the earth, and hate what I do a bit more almost every day. If you find what you truly wanna do, you'll find a way to make money doing it or a way to keep doing it.

5. As Public Enemy once said, don't believe the hype. When somone tries to convince you of something that you don't believe in, have a debate. Don't sit there and let someone browbeat you into their point of view. Don't believe it when someone says "Well if you don't think/agree with me, you must be against God/country." Intelligent debate and open questioning are the keystones in any democracy. Right now more than ever, we need that in this country. Stand up for what you believe, but always be prepard for someone to put up a good argument.

6. Quit giving in to paranoia and question everything. You have a college fucking degree now ... question everything!! Especially when it comes from a brain dead fuck in D.C. who has whored out freedom so that a few companies can boost their profits. Ask the who, what, why, where, and when for EVERYTHING. You might not like the answers, but you just might clue someone in to what is going on in the world. You might begin to figure out that almost no politicians really give a fuck about you (sorry Nonamehere; I'm kinda reiterating your point here). Question why is it that everytime there is a scandal involving the Anti-Christ (W) or his cabinet, all of a sudden there is a terror alert. Question why is it that the government is proposing cuts in VA benefits, but giving Haliburton a bonus despite it's accounting irregularities. Questiong the Anti-Christ, the conservatives, the liberals, the evangelicals, the GOP, the Dems .... just question everything and everyone. That is what makes you a better person in the long run and if you get fed up enough, you just might do something to make a difference.




Fucking Whore

1 comment:

Modigliani said...

great post. some good nuggets there.

So, sociology, huh? I had a Sociology teacher I totally ADORED and IDOLIZED in undergrad. Made me fall in love with the subject. In retrospect, I wish I had gotten a double major. She had always suggested doing that, but I got too lazy.

good thing, though - We always have the choice to change our minds and do something different. You should do what you want to do. (And I should, too. But that would really mean doing something artsy for me.)