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Mick's Opinions's avatar

I recently heard someone on a podcast cautioning against "commencement-speech morality." I'm a college professor and I've been giving students that advice for years (without using the term). My message to young people (if they ask) is to work hard and take pride in your work, do as much as you can, make a good impression, and generally embrace bourgeois values. Start saving right away (don't spend money frivolously), and if you have any proclivity at all for drinking too much, then don't drink at all.

In higher education, this advice -- so self-evident and simple -- has a remarkable capacity for upsetting people. Students are hearing, instead, that vast structural forces will make it hard for them to succeed, and they should devote themselves to social justice.

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Rick Gore's avatar

This is such an excellent post. The sad reality is that if you find yourself in an industry in structural decline - which legacy media not named “New York Times” clearly is- you will have to work very very hard to survive, and even that might not be enough. The only alternatives are things like find a partner with money, win the lottery or leave the industry. That’s it. Those are the choices. And yelling about it may feel good but won’t change that reality.

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