Ian Ogburn’s op/ed whinefest (“What Lies Ahead,” May 1) was a fine display of the mindset of his generation: a curious, yet typical, mix of high self-esteem, victimhood and entitlement.
Ogburn mentions that coming out of high school he had heard “horror stories” of graduates unable to find jobs in their chosen careers, yet he went ahead and pursued college education in skills for which, even then, there was a shrinking market; then ignored the subsequent dire warnings of his professors and counselors. Now, he claims to have a “sense of intellectual maturity” and to be very knowledgeable, yet any wisdom from his years of folly is not evident.
Belying his admiration for good, ol’ American-style adaptiveness, struggle and sacrifice, Ogburn unwittingly reveals the fecklessness and entitlement that define him and his peers: “outside of our control,” “tattooed with [self-imposed] debt,” “[unlikely] we’ll be thrown a life vest,” “my generation’s [stifled] productivity.”
To be fair, his cohort was sold a bill of goods by pervasive influences — from teachers and tenured professors to the panderer-in-chief (whom they no doubt helped put into the White House), preaching the glories of activist journalism, of the welfare state and of reflexively voting Democrat in elections.
Unsurprisingly, Ogburn feels victimized and that the uncaring world owes him a living. He seems to have overlooked the age-old axiom that employers and clients will pay only for skills that provide useful and profitable goods and services. Let us all encourage him and his peer group to leave off the whining and make themselves useful in the traditional sense.
Alex Templeton
Magnolia
Flipping through the not-so-sure-I-like-the-new-layout-Queen Anne & Magnolia News, one headline made me sit down and read: Ian Ogburn’s guest column, “What Lies Ahead.”
I share his concern for the cost and job relevancy of college today, as well as the struggling state of professional journalism. But his insights, passion and dedication to quality communication comfort me that there will most assuredly be Edward R. Murrows of tomorrow.
