Sick at Heart
I saw a Sun-Times article today about the income distribution at NU (and other schools), and can't stop thinking about it. It's not like it's news to me, but every time I'm reminded of it, I get as angry and upset and obsessed as the first time. It's really sickening and horrific to me. I played around with the numbers for awhile at work, which I shouldn't've, and sent out an e-mail to a bunch of listservs in the vain hope that people will pay enough attention to it that we can figure out something to do.
Here's just one breakdown of the numbers, which I wish I'd figured out before I sent the e-mail. I haven't got the actual numbers offhand-- maybe I'll edit this later-- but I know I'm really close because I can't forget this stuff.
$0-$25K US: 29% NU: 5%
$25K-$50K US: 30% NU: 10%
$50K-$100K US: 29% NU: 28%
$100K+: US: 13% NU: 58%
And that doesn't even deal with the 20% of NU students with incomes over $250K, or the fact that about 90% of NU students have family incomes above the US median income.
This stuff stirs up so many emotions in me; I can't really explain it. I ought to try to explore it more when I have time. But every time I really think about it, I wonder why every second of our time as student activists isn't spent fighting this. We are a part of the machine that takes children of rich and upper-middle class families and turns them into the rich and upper-middle class of the next generation. We are a part of the system, reaping its benefits, and whether or not we choose to use our elite education for our own personal gain, we will always have the privilege of that option. There are millions of Americans who don't get the chances we do, and instead of fighting to tear down the barriers that keep them out and create a stratified society, we sit back and let it happen.
It makes me think of those timeless words of Mario Savio: "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop."
But I have taken part. I get my diploma on Saturday alongside hundreds of other privileged kids, like thousands before me and thousands yet to come, and while I may be sick at heart, I haven't done a damn thing to make the machine stop.
What can we do?
Here's just one breakdown of the numbers, which I wish I'd figured out before I sent the e-mail. I haven't got the actual numbers offhand-- maybe I'll edit this later-- but I know I'm really close because I can't forget this stuff.
$0-$25K US: 29% NU: 5%
$25K-$50K US: 30% NU: 10%
$50K-$100K US: 29% NU: 28%
$100K+: US: 13% NU: 58%
And that doesn't even deal with the 20% of NU students with incomes over $250K, or the fact that about 90% of NU students have family incomes above the US median income.
This stuff stirs up so many emotions in me; I can't really explain it. I ought to try to explore it more when I have time. But every time I really think about it, I wonder why every second of our time as student activists isn't spent fighting this. We are a part of the machine that takes children of rich and upper-middle class families and turns them into the rich and upper-middle class of the next generation. We are a part of the system, reaping its benefits, and whether or not we choose to use our elite education for our own personal gain, we will always have the privilege of that option. There are millions of Americans who don't get the chances we do, and instead of fighting to tear down the barriers that keep them out and create a stratified society, we sit back and let it happen.
It makes me think of those timeless words of Mario Savio: "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop."
But I have taken part. I get my diploma on Saturday alongside hundreds of other privileged kids, like thousands before me and thousands yet to come, and while I may be sick at heart, I haven't done a damn thing to make the machine stop.
What can we do?
posted by Britt @ 11:07 PM
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