When student is an occupation: Caught in an economic quagmire, the educated class turns to OWS - Essay Example

?Rebuttal Essay. The article en d “When is an occupation: Caught in an economic quagmire, the educated turns to OWS” published on October 28, 2011 by Marissa Brotsoff argues that the students and recent graduates who are currently occupying Wall Street represent a much maligned group who are “among the victims of regressive economic policies and among the potential beneficiaries of social change” (Brotsoff, 2011, p. 1) The author maintains that this generation of students have been cornered into an “unattainable, unaffordable model of success” (Brotsoff, 2011, p.1) and have in effect been left high and dry by a society that promised them much, much more. This amounts to a serious grievance, in the author’s opinion but in fact this generation of graduates is the most privileged that the country has ever seen. While there is no doubt that the author speaks from a sense of injustice and resentment, there is considerable evidence that her argument is not based on a balanced reading of the facts. She maintains that that graduate unemployment is rising and salaries are falling, which is true of the last couple of years, but this must be seen in a broader perspective. A closer look at some of the statistics from recent years on the economic advantages that college education brings, shows clearly that it is worthwhile in financial terms to achieve a degree. The following graph based on data from 2002 comprising a group of over 25 year olds who were in full time employment expressed this in a format using constant 2002 dollars, to compensate for inflation: Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Oct 23, 2003. http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2003/oct/wk3/art04.htm Over this period both women and men with less than a high school diploma have suffered a decline in their inflation adjusted earnings, but those who are fortunate enough to have completed college degrees have increased their income by one-third (women) or one fifth (men). These are huge gains which have accumulated over time. The gender differences are due to the slow progress that is being made towards the equalization of salary levels. What this graph shows very clearly is the trend towards increased wealth in those who go to college. Such people are indeed an elite in real terms, as far as income is concerned, and even if in present times there is a slowing or slight reversal of this trend, this does not wipe out the huge gains that were made in the 1980s and 1990s. The author is not correct in identifying a genuine grievance, since the slight downturn is nothing more than a small blip caused by the credit crunch. While the value of college education to the individual is one reason why they are seen as an elite, another reason is the value that these individuals collectively bring to the town or city in which they live. Temple (2000, pp. 1-2) argues that the productivity of a city rises when there is a graduate level institution present, bringing increased wealth to the whole community, and advises third world and transitional economies to invest in education, not just for these strong economic reasons, but also because of the huge social and cultural advantages that come with college education. This advantage in the human capital of a region is not measurable in dollars, but rather in the improved status in the community and quality of life that students have, being able to access many intangible benefits through their skills level and enthusiasm for innovation. What this research shows is that a college education privileges a person in ways that are hard to measure but nevertheless very significant. It proves that collectively, this generation of students enjoys a high status in society. An intriguing part of Brotsoff’s argument relating to the “Occupy Wall Street” relies on parallels with previous periods of student activism relating to the Invasion of Iraq which she somewhat presumptuously labels “our Vietnam.” (Brotsoff, 2011, p. 1) Bruntsoff is willing to admit that the student demonstrations of the Gulf War period were little more than token efforts, quickly organized and just as quickly forgotten when students returned to their usual preoccupation of “crawling deeper into one’s individual cocoon of privilege” (Brotsoff, 2011, p.1). What the author does not realize is that the adoption of protest stances in youth is a phenomenon which derives largely from a psychological need to follow the example of their parents (Duncan and Stewart, 1995, p.914). The protest is for younger people not so much an act of political engagement, as a rite of passage which has become traditional in a section of society which has the luxury, and the prior role models, to engage in such gestures. It belongs to student transitional life as much as all night essay marathons and the rigors of the examination process. Far from being a sincere and well-argued theoretical position, Brotsoff’s piece is a petulant plea for the right to have the culturally important moment of fame that the Woodstock generation had with their flower power and love-in events. The argument that Brotsoff makes is simple, and quite astonishing in its crass materialism and selfishness. The “grievances” that she complains about are loss of privileges that had been implicitly promised in the elitist education process that she and her peers had taken on board, in the hope of huge advantages in later life. She argues that “prospects for recent graduates are declining” (Brotsoff, 2011, p. 1) and cites a median starting salary for graduates some 10 per cent less than those who graduated a year earlier, as if there is some universal law that should protect college graduates from the global financial crises that have devastated salary and employment levels on a scale unprecedented since the Great Depression of the 1920s. Bruntshoff appeal based on an economic victim status for graduates is not justifiable. The truth is that graduates are more protected than any other sector of the population because they have the benefit of a greater skills base with which to engineer a career change when conditions are difficult. Those who have only high school qualifications and a vocational training fare much worse in hard times, because they are more closely tied in to just one area of employment. The narrow focus of this article, on preserving the privileges of the few, does not support its contention that the wall street protestors are genuinely progressive reformers, but proves rather the opposite. The whole event is little more than “a vacation for spoiled brats” (Bruntshoff, 2011, p.1) who lack solidarity with other sectors of society, and are following their parents’ footsteps into the limelight and out of any serious contribution to the future of America. References Brotsoff, Marissa. “When student is an occupation: Caught in an economic quagmire, the educated class turns to OWS” Salon website. Available at: http://www.salon.com/2011/10/28/when_student_is_an_occupation/ Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Earnings by educational attainment and sex, 1979 and 2002”. October 23, 2003. Available online at: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2003/oct/wk3/art04.htm Duncan, Lauren E. and Stewart, Abigail J. “Still Bringing the Vietnam War Home: Sources of Contemporary Student Activism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 21 No. 9 (1995), pp. 914-924. Temple, Jonathan. “Growth effects of education and social capital in the OECD countries,” OECD Economic Studies, 2000. Available online at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=276787 Read More