Editor,
I have been in college for three and a half years, with two of those years at UNM. I've observed a great deal to dislike about college students, especially when it comes to backing up smack talk or when it comes to plain common sense.
I disdain leftists who bash the United States, because they do not offer any clear examples of societies they feel to be ideal models. As flawed as this nation is, and as repeatedly as the government has displayed gross incompetence and just bad policies such as the war on drugs and Cold War policies of supporting unsavory figures abroad to name a few, it is still the greatest nation on this green Earth.
I disdain rightists such as Jerry Falwell, who wish to turn this nation into something frighteningly close to Afghanistan under the Taliban. After the 1999 Columbine tragedy, right-wing pundits and politicians scrambled to find ways to protect us from the evils of Marilyn Manson, horror movies, suggestive advertising and the big culprit Playstation.
I disdain intellectual masturbators who like to spout off about what they hate about their situation or their country but don't have enough fortitude to walk their talk. They feel that academia gives them carte blanche to talk smack without having to back it up. These people would never last two minutes where I came from. If someone talked crap, they were called to put up or shut up.
People who worship at the altar of capitalism don't piss me off as much as the categories I listed above. I just wish they would point out the inherent flaws in the concept, such as income disparities and the costs of production to maintain the system. Also, there is no such thing as a purely capitalist society. There is always going to be a presence of regulation and state intervention in any economic arrangement.
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It is safe to say then, that a college degree does not necessarily make one smart or even endow one with common sense. It's just a piece of paper.
Brandon D. Curtis
UNM senior
