As for the Darwinism mentioned by one commenter, perhaps a refresher of high-school biology is in order. Darwin coined the phrase “survival of the fit” — if it works, it lives. It doesn’t have to be the best or the brightest, just has to survive long enough to pass on its genes, and that leaves a pretty wide field for adaptation and resilience in the face of change. The idea of “survival of the fittest” was coined later by a social theorist to describe early capitalism, but if you think for a moment, any ecosystem — or any society — in which this principle operated would soon die out (soon in relative terms, here). If “the fittest” for a particular situation dominated, what would happen when that situation changed? Rather than a singular vision of “the fittest,” which offers us a dead end, we need a wide diversity of “fit” options that all different kinds of people can pursue. Monoculture, whether we’re talking food or economics, is a death sentence.

Maybe that’s one reason why we liminal young people are struggling so hard against growing up. Being an adult has become en exercise in monoculture, and on some instinctive level we see that there’s more to life than being a cubicle slave….

(–working-class debt-laden temporary cubicle slave, waiting to hear about PhD funding)

Whatchu talkin’ about, Willis?We see Gary Coleman’s scrunched-up little face saying that now-famous line and we think, how adorable! And then we see him on some Cash Call commercial at 1am on the UPN Network bellowing, “I needed some cash, BAD!” and we t

If you, or others, are interested in pursuing the issue of educating/supporting “non-college-bound” or “working class” youth, I recommend the book “Rethinking America” by Hedrick Smith. It is 10 years old now, but the principles and examples remain relevant today.

He compares America, Germany and Japan and the way major corporations are integrated (or not) with secondary education institutions to provide training and opportunities for non-college students to develop useful career tracks.

He talks about America as a “hero” culture, where superlative personalities or achievements are celebrated in spite of the fact that few people will ever achieve these levels. Thus, programs to send “every student to college” are funded and promoted although this is not appropriate (or even desired) for all Americans. And few high school guidance counselors are trained or prepared to guide students to any option but college.

In a related issue, I remain distressed that there are all kinds of grants, scholarships and financial aid for higher education (government and otherwise), while there is virtually no support for early childhood education.

A student attending a state college can often attend for as little as a few thousand, while early childhood education (child care by trained educators) can cost upwards of $15,000 per year. This is the most formative time of a human being’s intellectual and social development (over 90% of the synapses in the brain are formed in the first 3 years) and determines much about how an individual learns and interacts with others for the remainder of their life. …ah, but this is a topic for another day.

Caryn

Is that good? Hell no. But it’s darwinism and it works.

There will always be the kids that drop out when they get their first paycheck from McDonald’s and can buy rims, but no one should be encouraged to do that.

While there are still “growing up” experiences after college, i do believe that our society does see a college graduate as an “adult.” Many people, myself included, have spent many nights pondering what’s goign on with the world and the roles we play. But i don’t think that this makes us any less “adult” i just think this means we’re constantly moving on a journey, and constantly growing.

Kundera says “At the beginnings of one’s erotic life, there is arousal without climax, and at the end there is climax without arousal.”

What sucks is that we are all getting older and i personally am going to try to hang on to arousal as long as possible.