Sunday, September 14, 2014

Enough about you, me, everyone. Brian Williams makes a beeline to the many issues that have risen from our celebratory culture in his brief essay "Enough about you". Williams brings to attention our everyone-wins mentality, and the shortcomings that come with it. Williams states, "Today everyone gets celebrated, in a part to put an end to the common cruelties of life that so many of us grew up with." I believe that statement is quite accurate, and upon first glance it sounds like a step up in our society. Upon second glance, you may also notice a slight jump of entitlement in our general culture. Or at least I have. In a time where you get a trophy for participation, one has to wonder where the drive to succeed comes from. I for one am motivated not by the desire to succeed, but from the very possible outcome that I may not succeed. In the real world you have to compete, and you won't be rewarded just for participating. So why on earth do people bestow this false reality to the younger generation? Yes, it may hold instant gratification, but it also gets them used to the idea that simply participating will make you a winner. This sense of entitlement can really stifle ones personal growth. Is this kind of treatment really worth it over the "cruelties of life"? I don't believe so. I think the biggest winners know very well what it means to lose. It's those losing moments that shapes us. We all start out as a blank slab of clay, but the cruel jabs and scrapes in life really mold us into a nice sculpture. Maybe not a winning sculpture, but it's better than some entitled blob of clay. Do you want to be an entitled blob of clay? I don't, and you shouldn't either you punk.