I'm constantly being asked why exactly I never went to university. Even some of my closest friends, with whom I've been over the logic several times, fail to grasp the concept, though by now, they've come to accept my not being a college degree holder as normal. Luckily, we're also reaching an age where most people around us (including my friends) are finishing or have finished school, so it's less of a shock.
And though I've questioned my own decisions several times, I once again conclude that I made the right choice. Earlier, I was listening to possibly the most brilliant podcast episode I've ever heard - Jordan Peterson's interview of North Korean activist Yeonmi Park, who recently came to public attention (again) over her critique of the prestigious Columbia University.
Having fled a regime notorious for its propaganda, brutality and censorship, Yeonmi Park accused the American university of much the same crimes, and it was a chilling thing to hear. She told of how a professor at Columbia criticized her for letting men hold the door for her, as it reinforced the patriarchy. She told of how ~ having taught herself how to read, and how to speak English ~ she had trouble adjusting to all this pronoun mania that has taken over the West.
And she concluded that she would've been better off never attending Columbia, as it was a waste of time, money, and energy, conclusion that brought Peterson (and myself) understandably to tears. To have a North Korean refugee, rape and human trafficking survivor tell you that your Western universities have become a propaganda-churning laughing stock is not easy to hear.
An institution that was once meant to enrich the human spirit and to help us break from the chains of working class slavery is now just a machine used to dumb down our youth, and to desecrate the pillars of our culture. And how do we justify that? Well, knowledge is racist, so maybe we should just abolish it. The students are far too busy going to therapy and taking Adderall, so they can't be bothered to even notice. And, if we're being quite honest, it works for them, too - God forbid young people should actually have to work at something.
It's a depressing phase in our history, one that begs the question - how long will it last? And even worse, where will this idiotization process leave us, in the end? The destruction of a generation? That of Western civilization altogether?
Mercifully, for now, there are options. The Internet continues to be available to the youth, as do books. Knowledge, elusive as it may be, remains out there, and more and more young people are either supplementing their education or turning from it altogether, with the help of independent resources.
For now, everything you might need or want to study is freely available, and largely accessible. And it's our duty, I feel, to take advantage of that - while it's still there, because make no mistake, it won't be for long.
