Column: How prepared are you?

By Jon Monteith

Well, since I got stuck running on Thursdays this semester and most of the other columnists have already said their farewells, I’m fresh out of clever approaches to my last column of the school year. Feeling like my options are scarce at this point, I’ve opted to provide a final observation about one of my favorite topics – my fellow students.

Nobody panic! This is not going to be an Illini Imbeciles Part 3 column – I’ve limited myself to two of those, and it’s distasteful to end on such a sassy note. Instead, I’d like to use what space I have left to pose a serious question: Is our generation truly prepared to become part of the real world?

Nearly two years of time on this campus has convinced me that for many of us, the answer to that question is no. I’m an observant kind of guy, and some of the people I’ve noticed here at school are simply not ready to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. To illustrate my point, here’s an example:

I recently got into a debate with a friend’s roommate about universal health care. Toward the beginning of the discussion, we were both making legitimate points for and against providing basic health care needs to all Americans. Though I vehemently disagree with her logic, she did point out some of the potential flaws of such a program, and we remained open to each other’s points.

Then someone came by and hit her with the crazy stick. In an effort to argue that we might not need to assist the needy Americans of this country, she made the claim that “there is no such thing as extreme poverty in America.” Upon picking up my jaw from off of the basement floor, the best I could muster is, “are you serious?”

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The problem is that she was not kidding. This individual, who has made the drastic transition from being provided for in a nice Chicago suburb to coming to the University of Illinois where she can continue to be provided for, was actually trying to convince me that there are no people living under economically unbearable conditions in this country.

This is indicative of a bigger problem with many privileged kids in our generation. They learn not to look down when they step over that annoying homeless woman who’s blocking the entrance to Neiman Marcus. They ignore the story of a local elderly woman whose throat had been swollen to the point of suffocation but did not try to see a doctor because she would rather die than deal with paying the medical bill. And they are completely oblivious to the poverty-stricken areas of Washington, D.C. where sick or injured individuals die on the street because they don’t have access to hospital care that can only be found in the affluent areas of the city. The facilities they do have, such as free clinics, are often forced to turn people away due to occupancy restraints.

Let me emphasize that if I thought this person was an exception to the rule, I wouldn’t be so worried. Rather, I have heard plenty of comments from people my age that indicate a serious lack of knowledge about the serious economic disparities facing our nation. But their ignorance is not limited to this issue. Too many of these individuals make statements without having the knowledge or the experience to back them up. Not only do they embarrass themselves in the process, but they also give ammunition to the people who view our generation as a running joke when it comes to discussing issues – and that is insulting to those of us who actually know what we’re talking about.

We have made it through another school year and that puts us one year closer to entering the real world. Before this actually happens, though, I offer a suggestion to many of my peers: learn not to make wild statements that are void of any element of truth. As adults, we won’t always be let off the hook for not knowing our facts. Being aware of our own ignorance now will help us to become more respectable people in the future.