Pheh, if you want to give them a challenge, tell them they have to help the Artichoke farmers. No dainty picking of lovely smelling strawberries for these losers…instead make them learn to swing a machete and wear a backpack you fill with high-density vegetable matter.
{minor hijack}
I bike to work in Watsonville. I see a lot of weird things. Your post just explained one of them in advance. Thank you.
Don’t take it personally, **even sven **, but attitudes such as yours are a major pet peeve of mine. It’s that automatic assumption that while your interest in something is sincere, “those people” are just doing it because it’s “cool”. I hear this type of stuff all the time: “I’m a Pagan because I believe in it–those idiots are Pagans just because it’s cool!” It just reeks of a smug, superior attitude. It’s as if since these girls come from money, and don’t seem as hardcore as you, they are airheads who have no convictions whatsoever. And the fact that their families are rich doesn’t mean that they can’t be liberal–look at JFK, RFK & FDR.
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First off, if you don’t know anything about this Buddhist Co-op, you really have no right to write them off as a bunch of “rich white wanna-be Buddhists”. Dropping out of society to live a life devoted to your religious ideals is not something that is easy in our culture. And it sounds like you’re assuming that this girl’s visit to their Co-op is worthless. Even if she’s doing it because is sounds “cool”, I think that even making an effort to expose yourself to another way of living is valuable. And no matter how much of an airhead she is, I bet she will learn something about their Buddhist beliefs. Just observing their communal lifestyle will cause her to think…and maybe even re-evaluate her materialistic lifestyle. I really admire her for taking the time to visit this co-op. Not many people I know would even think about doing something like that!
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Wow…you are really belittling what sounds like a great program! Going to a third world county to participate in a project that helps improve a foreign community sounds fantastic! My impression is that they would have to learn about the culture, history and problems facing the community, and would then work on a project to make their lives better. Yet you dismiss this by saying, “Actually learning anything or doing something useful never seems to factor in” Wha? Am I missing something here?
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I can think of a lot of reading that would be very important. You would want to know about the history and culture of Mexican immigrants. And understanding the long history of the fight for the rights of migrant agricultural laborers is not exactly something you could grasp in an afternoon! If you’re going to be working with a group of people from a vastly different culture than yours, I don’t think you could ever be overprepared!
**
What would these strawberry workers think when they see these college student descend on them? How 'bout: “**THANK GOD! **With most of society turning their backs on us, these educated young people are coming here to actually help us!” Seriously, California has a long history of mistreating and looking down up its migrant workforce. These college kids, whom you so snidely dismiss, are probably going to be a blessing to them. Not only will they help them improve their working conditions and educate them on relevant labor laws–but they will also show them that at least some people in our society still care!
Please don’t take this personally, even sven, but your attitude seems very condescending and immature. According to you these girls don’t pass some sort of liberal litmus test because their families are rich and they don’t have to starve in order to finance their education. They take classes on community studies that you deem simplistic and shallow. They visit Buddhist communities on their vacation–but you’ve decided that this is worthless. They go to third world countries to participate in helpful projects–but no…this doesn’t count–they only do this to feel “empowered”. They discuss feminist issues…aid migrant farmworkers…participate in protests…but none of this is good enough for you. They’re just not as liberal as you are, eh? Get off your high horse, even sven!
In today’s dollar sign world, most people don’t care about anything but making money. And most young people going to college these days are picking careers that will put them on a path to getting rich. There are so many business majors nowadays that it’s becoming an epidemic! Yet these girls choose a major dedicated to actually helping people and changing the world. And you put them down for this? They’re just not as dedicated as you, as hardworking as you, as poor as you, as intelligent as you. They aren’t “working our ass off”, studying film, like you are. They are so beneath you! Your judgmental & superior attitude seems to be the exact opposite of what most would consider to be liberal.
I, for one, am pretty damn glad that there are girls like this who actually seem aware of, and concerned about–the world we live in. They are a far cry from the types of girls I went to college with. The only protest they would attend is if Bloomingdales stopped accepting American Express! Lighten up & stop judging others so harshly. Especially those that are at least doing something to better the world. Even if they don’t live up to your lofty standards.
here’s where I am confused:
How about if I wrote:
I was on the bus this morning, happily going to class. Behind me, two girls are talking about their plans for the summer. Typical college student stuff. Then the subject of Colorado comes up.
“Like, I hear there is this Country Club in Colorado and I think I am going to visit there this summer” says a girl that in any other decade would have been a street urchin.
"Oh wow. It is so cool that they are like living like that! They even use Linen! " says girl #2.
“Yeah, like, they even have polo fields!!! It is so brave.”
It’s not the best example, but you get the idea - if I wrote a similar post was about poor people doing the equivalent, a good many posters here would be on me like flies on shit.
while Angel of the Lord says that the OP is not about moneyed people per say, I disagree. The whole OP reeks of sour grapes. and I think its bullshit.
If the OP felt that way about dabblers that would be one thing.
But then, I have met some ‘poor’ dabblers myself (having grown up in a not wealthy neighborhood). You know what? We had the same bores at my school too, regardless of income. In college I met fellow art student who were poor and were not talented what so ever. I met rich ones who had immense talent. and vise versa. The point is: Boorish behavior (or talent) knows no financial limitations. The insinuation that only poor people work hard and therefore are MORE deserving is pure and absolute bullshit.
I think even sven is more pissed at the fact that these students have money to fund their ‘dabbles’ more than anything else - at least that is how I read the OP.
and if that is the case, get over yourself.
I am QUITE sure that there is some leftist somewhere out there much more poor than you, who looks at YOU the way you looked upon the debutantes. (“wow, how grand for her that she could afford going to college. I wish I could!”)
I mean, jesh, if they aren’t affecting you personally, why do you give a shit what these girls believe? Every little bit counts, doesn’t it? And its the end result that matters, right?
p.s. for the record Mr. Miskatonic, farmers I have known say that picking strawberries is bare none, the worst job in picking. The constant bending WAY down and the fact that they are easily mashed makes for a hard job.
[quote]
What would these strawberry workers think when they see these college student descend on them? How 'bout: “THANK GOD! With most of society turning their backs on us, these educated young people are coming here to actually help us!”
How can some earnest college kid, with even the best intentions, educate migrant workers about labor laws? Community Studies is not a law degree. How, exactly, is a college kid going to improve the working conditions for migrant workers?
I admire anyone who wishes to help the poor and disenfrachised, but you also need some actual real-world expertise to do some real good.
Yup, I’m sure those Mexican strawberry pickers would much rather have somebody help them understand a Hitchcock film than some assistance picking strawberries.
Sounds like Berkeley…
A bunch of college kids is going to improve the migrant workers’ working conditions? How? And if it’s that easy, why hasn’t the annual influx of such college kids effected a change yet?
This whole concept smacks of paternalism to me. “Oh, those wonderful rich white kids! They’re coming to help us poor Mexican farm workers!”
I imagine that the more likely reaction would be, “Look, more hands to help harvest! Wait…why are they picking one strawberry for every five I pick? They’re so SLOW! And why don’t they shut up instead of droning on and on how badly we’re treated?! They’re driving us crazy! Oh, gee, they went home at lunch…at least it’s quiet now…”
I just have a visceral reaction to the idea that any minority ethnic and/or economic group is expected to be grateful that one of the least-influential segments of the majority society is willing to be acknowledge their existence, mostly in a condescending manner. Or that the solution to any of their problems must come from outside.
That wasn’t very coherent, I’m afraid…I just have trouble articulating why this whole thing gives me the social willies.
jayjay
Well, it was coherent enough for me.
I wrote a big long response somewhere, but it seems to have gotten lost. Oh well…I’ll return to this when I get home from classes…
In the meantime, my boyfriend does computers for the UFW, not the AFW as I typed it.
To those who wish to escape their too liberal universities may I welcome you to North Dakota State University. Here it is acceptable to talk of being “jewed” in a bad business deal, “faggot” is in every day slang, and the creationists frequently attempt to overrun anthropology and biology classes.
Believe me, all of you at rich kid liberal colleges, the flip side is much worse.
The Dead Kennedys wrote a song about these kinds of people. One of my favorite songs in the masterful DK opus.
I bring you…
jayjay, it’s obvious you have no experience in development. The students in this field are very commited and spend a large amount of their time thinking about the sorts of issues you accuse them of. They’re not stupid you know, and what do you suppose they study in their courses? These social willies you have problems articulating sound more like guilt that other people are trying to affect change more than you.
Matt, in using the term “neo-liberal” (with a deliberate hyphenation), I was referring to the sort of kids mentioned in the OP–the young, idealistic college students eager to embrace any liberal ideal that happens to make themselves feel good. I suppose I could have used a different term, but I thought it would be evident in context to whom I was referring. Sorry 'bout that.
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Whoa! Pahtay! 
You think this is new even sven? As Maeglin points out, people write popular songs about it.
We are the folk song army,
Every one of us cares.
We all hate poverty, war, and injustice
Unlike the rest of you squares.
There are innocuous folk songs, yeah,
But we regard 'em with scorn.
The folks who sing 'em have no social conscience,
Why, they don’t even care if Jimmy Crack Corn.
If you feel dissatisfaction,
Strum your frustrations away.
Some people may prefer action,
But give me a folk song any old day.
“We Are the Folk Song Army” (1965) by Tom Lehrer (who, I believe, teaches at Santa Cruz)
These “earnest college kids” may not have law degrees, but they will provide a valuable tool: knowledge. They’ll know all the details of the history of migrant labor organization in the U.S. And not only will they have read all about **Cesar Chavez **; but many of them will want to be **Cesar Chavez **!!! As the course descriptionfor one of the Community Studies classes puts it: The goal of this seminar is to learn how to organize a revolution.
And let’s not kid ourselves…these student won’t be just walking into a strawberry patch rallying the workers–I’m sure that they will work hand-in-hand with the Farmworker’s Union. If you’ve ever been involved with a labor union you’ll know that one of the biggest problems they face is stagnation. These kids will provide a pure shot of energy. And not only will they come armed with the latest ideas and tactics from labor movements worldwide, but they’ll also be able to provide help in organizing, growing and strengthening the union of farmworkers.
So: New Ideas & Tactics + Energy of idealistic students == Stronger Union == Better working conditions!
Oh, that’s encouraging.
And, human nature being what it is…1 in 10 will actually try to be Chavez and 1 in 100 of those will actually manage to do something.
The rest will become ad executives for firms based in second tier cities because the early movers got the NYC and LA gigs.
All I can say is that anyone who defines being vegetarian as “brave” deserves whatever shit is flung at them.
Well, hopefully it’s vegan shit.
Or maybe the rest will go on to found free eyeglass distributors or drill bore-holes so that villagers don’t have to walk 5 miles for water, or set up apiculture programs for supplementary income, or teach at mission schools like the one Nelson Mandela went to, or start paper recyling programs so that kids can have affordable writing paper , …
Maybe they don’t want to be like Chavez at all because they realize how stupid that would be. Maybe they just want to contribute to making peoples lives a bit easier or provide them more opportunities.