Some great people in history have been nonconformists.
Revolutionaries generally are. Martin Luther is a particularly famous one. He
decided not to conform to the Catholic Church and led the Protestant
Reformation. Unfortunately, modern nonconformists are much less inspirational
because they fight for stupid things.
I am of course referring to the demonstrations in Quebec in
response to a 60% increase in tuition ($1625 over five years). Post-secondary
education is not a right; prices can be set at any permitted by the law. If
students believe the $1625 increase is not worth paying, they should stop
attending school. The current educational system produces too many pseudo-intellectuals
ill suited for the labour needs of society anyway, thus contributing to
structural unemployment. There exists massive unemployment yet 50% of firms
find it difficult to employee people (www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/05/daily-chart-18).
And by pseudo-intellectual, perhaps I refer to the pictured
Guy-Fawkes imitator (http://www.economist.com/node/21556631).
This is a sad attempt at grandiosity. The pseudo-intellectual fights for $1625
where Guy-Fawkes fought for counter-reformation. Guy-Fawkes’s consequence was
death where the masked man’s consequence is a ticket (for ways to refute it, owing
Quebec’s non-autocratic, non-oppressive, and overly progressive nature, go to http://tuitiontruth.ca/).
In general, conforming is the better option. Most long
lasting cultures have conformity engrained in them though some cultures are
certainly more conformist than others. Confucians, for example, stressed peace
and continuality. The Chinese have never invaded another country. In contrast,
the Quebequois insist on occupying the opposition’s side of the House of
Commons, this time through the NDP and last time through the Liberals. Then
there is the link back to Europe. Austerity rioters don’t seem to understand
the definition of austere – “severe”. What is “austere” about cutting a $2300
pension of a retired garbage-truck driver (http://www.economist.com/node/21555875)?
And finally, what the 99% don’t notice is that most of them lie in the top 10%
of the world. “We are in the 90th to 99th percentile” –
doesn’t have the same ring, unfortunately.
This is not to say that non-conformity should be outlawed. I think the perceived eccentricity = perceived competence rule works well here. In other words, not conforming can be fun but don't overstay your welcome.
This is not to say that non-conformity should be outlawed. I think the perceived eccentricity = perceived competence rule works well here. In other words, not conforming can be fun but don't overstay your welcome.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteVincent Jiang commented on your post.
Vincent wrote: "-This post is really long, and I would deeply appreciate people reading it in its entirety before developing a reaction. Thanks!-
I think David you may be confusing the stated or 'official' goals of the protesters with the reason why they're actually rioting. With all the effort they've put into demonstrations, they couldve flipped burgers and made the difference in the tuition hike, and I'm this has occurred to at least the movement's leaders.
Sure, this is nominally over some absurdly small tuition hike, but the real reason why students - and Greeks - are frustrated is because the young feel that the generation that preceded them stole their future via overly generous welfare states, unfunded pensions, lower education costs etc. Public spending is consumed by the current taxpayer, but public debt is paid for by the future taxpayer. The same people that promised that truck driver a $2300 pension are not the same young and unemployed people currently rioting in the streets of Athens, and a big chunk of today's protesters probably werent old enough to vote when those benefits and entitlements that wrecked their country were passed. The retirees, union bosses, corrupt businessmen, anybody that got rich in the broken system, have all left the party - the rioters are the ones pissed off they have to clean the house in the morning. And to be lethally honest, public-debt to GDP adjusted for inflation (Rogoff&Reinhart), is the highest its ever been. Post-secondary education costs, student debt, youth unemployment, etc etc etc are all their worst level ever, so I think there a certain right to be pissed. Of course, nothing is ever any one person's fault, but I think the locus of responsibility for the worlds social, enviromental, financial problems almost never rest solely with the people worst affected by those problems.
Of course, articulating this complex, convoluted generational conflict is really hard, and plenty of people have it in their nature to just get bored and leave, whereas "no tuition hikes" has a nice ring to it. So you know, riot on! Or somesuch.
In conclusion, I dont think the Quebec rioters are particularly uninspiring, futile, or insipid for someone that takes a moment to analyze what the riots reflect. The tuition hike is taking a complex issue and boiling it down into one simple, mass digestible goal. Sure, that goal seems somewhat trivial, but it is a strawman to rebut just the tuition hike and not the underlying problem, then declare all rioters are idiots, or somesuch (though there will be a sizable bunch of sheep and ignorants, as inevitable).
Oh and I'm pretty Confucian China has invaded a couple countries in its time. Like Tibet.
Okay now I'm just trolling... Anyways, that was a really long post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts David, and I hope mine werent... overly... offensive. Kidding. Let the flaming begin!"