In a commencement speech so close to the content of CM it really should come with citations, a high school English prof *dared* to utter the following heresy to the graduating class: you are not special.Though the speech really should be read in its entirety, here's some flava:
"If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another–which springs, I think, from our fear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality — we have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. We have come to see them as the point — and we’re happy to compromise standards, or ignore reality, if we suspect that’s the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on the mantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which to leverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totem pole. No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it… Now it’s “So what does this get me?”
I can only imagine the ensuing shitstorm...and the number of people who stopped listening before he went on to encourage the grads to go forth and be extraordinary.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I think of this speech...but I definitely want to process with the rest of you.
Thanks for this, Drunk.
ReplyDelete2 quotes from it I really liked are here, but the thing in its entirety was great.
Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. That’s 37,000 valedictorians… 37,000 class presidents… 92,000 harmonizing altos… 340,000 swaggering jocks… 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs.
The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life, is an achievement, not something that will fall into your lap because you’re a nice person or mommy ordered it from the caterer. You’ll note the founding fathers took pains to secure your inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness–quite an active verb, “pursuit”–which leaves, I should think, little time for lying around watching parrots rollerskate on Youtube.
That was fantastic. I wish my high school commencement had had something half as good.
ReplyDeleteMe too, except that nobody would understand the part about YouTube.
DeletePretty good, I'd say, after a quick skim. He nails it with "everyone is special; therefore no one is" -- at least not in the way that people often take it to mean (i.e. exceptional, and deserving of different/special treatment).
ReplyDeleteMaybe it helps to be (assuming one of the commenters is correct about his identity) the not-so-famous son of a very famous father?
But I don't think the criticism of trophies-for-all is entirely original -- Michelle Rhee has done it, and probably also the Tiger Mom (as well as, of course, scores of CM posters and commenters).
I think it's awesome. And necessary.
ReplyDeleteOkay, who's the farker? (see "spiffy" tag item)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fark.com/
If it were my speech, I would have put my stolen "motherfuckest" line in there somewhere. Or force everybody to listen to my droning recitation of "The Murder Mystery" by The Velvet Underground.
ReplyDeleteGood to know the Historian has such a down-to-earth son.
I love this guy! He's like a kinder, gentler Strelnikov.
ReplyDelete