There is More to College than Career and More to Life than Money

photo from Bloomberg

It was with interest I read the economist update on the somewhat controversial Theil Foundation program that is awarding 20+ Under 20 applicants for a grants of 100,000 dollars to start a business rather than go to or finish college. While there are famous examples of drop out successes, like Bill Gates, and while what Mr Thiel says about the fact that they can always go back to school may be technically true- my gut instinct is to think this is not a good idea.

Thiel is a classic libertarian, so it is not surprising to me that his view is all business, private markets, and money success. But I think about what else you gain in college- access to new ideas, more exposure to people not like yourself, the chance to explore what you really enjoy and find a path that suits you. Most people claim to have changed a lot throughout their 20's - it is when you really solidify your own outlook on the world. And I can't help but think these "100,000 dollar drop outs" are missing more than just an education (also important by the way) by diving full into the high stress roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship.

As for going back to school if your Theil grant doesn't result in Gates-like success... adult ed is a wonderful thing, and grad school is too- but it is never the same as approaching the discussions, exploration and growth of college life in the company of your peers. Folks of a similar age, experiencing the same parts of life and the same developmental cycle as yourself. Plus as less than 50% of start ups survive- those grant winners may be paying more than the price of 2 years of their lives if things don't pan out.

Mr Thiel admits to thinking that ..."higher-education system tempts many people who would be better off going straight into business and creating significant wealth." and that says a lot to me. Do we need more of a push to strive for significant wealth in america? What about public service? What about personal growth, deeper thinking, enjoying family and friends. A higher standard of living can be measured in many ways, not just by tallying up your bank account totals at the end of each quarter.

I also note that of his first 24 grants, only 2 went to women. Really? There are only 2 women out there smart enough for Thiel's cash? hmmm. But as with most classic libertarians his view is quite male-centered. This during a time when huge numbers of women are starting and leading their own companies.

The stories of the grant winners are quite interesting and for many this may be an ideal path.  But I think the philosophy behind it may be inherently flawed. For those passionate enough- like Gates- the path of going straight to your own company is not dependent on instant cash from VC's and Big cash grants. In fact, finding the money to make your dream and path a reality is a big part of the learning curve needed for long term business success. The Theil plan is at best a cushy short cut in what should be a life-lesson tough path.

In the movie The Social Network, a few things were clear, facebook founder Mark Z. is brilliant, and had a good idea. What is also clear is that he lacked emotional and social maturity that would have saved him from some huge law suits and generally being viewed (by the globe now) as a jerk. Would college have taught him more about social interaction? perhaps, perhaps not. But dropping out and rushing out to Silicon valley certainly didn't seem to impart that lesson.

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Boundary Issues

(Cover of the Portland Mercury the week Reagan died.)

During the early 1980s, as Reagan launched our current Hate Society, the back windshield of my Honda Civic was smashed one night and my car ransacked. But the only item taken was my address book in the glovebox -- not my tapedeck nor my case of tapes. not my tools or the stack of games visible in the back hatch, Just my address book.

I of course called the Lesbian Rights Project to report it because they were monitoring the reprisals against us, those of us in the group Lesbians Against Police Violence. I didn't call the cops because it was them, and/or their friends, who were doing this shit. One of my friends in the group had similarly had her house broken into and the only thing stolen was her dayrunner. Another friend had her truck towed despite it being legally parked, and when she got it back two days later, missing from it were her checkbook and journals.

Not long after my break-in, two group members lost their jobs after visits to their boss's office by men in suits, and a third friend, a mechanic in LAPV, had the old Volvo she had lovingly restored firebombed overnight. She quit the group amid tearful apologies, saying she was just too frightened.

It cost me $150 to replace my rear windshield at a time when I was living on $380 a month. After that, for several years I kept my address book in code, combining it with my datebook in a tiny leather clasp that never left my back pocket.

They still want that information about law-abiding citizens just as badly, only now they can buy it from Facebook. You can tell how eagerly FB wants this treasure trove of yours by how persistently they beseech those of us who have NOT given them access to our address files by trotting out the names of our friends who used the FB "Friend Finder" to locate that loser from 20 years ago you don't want to be in touch with anyhow.

Every time someone is gullible and lazy enough to allow FB to "access" your email list elsewhere, make no mistake about it, they are copying your data instantly and selling it. As a researcher, I know what kind of gold it contains, a veritable biography of your existence. My guess is that this revenue is FB's prmary moneymaker, given how assiduously they push it.

All to individually "save you the trouble" of typing in the names of the folks you actually do want to friend.

Do you REALLY believe the police state after eight years of Bush is less dangerous that that of the early 80s?

Pass . It . On .

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The Quality of Meter

(Splash photo by Paul Hoksenar)

One of my most prized possessions is a complete collection of Shakespeare that was given to my mother as her high school valedictorian present by her book-loving father, the year before he died. It was printed as World War II raged, and hence it demonstrates the paper and ink rationing of the times: The pages are tisue-thin, the print reduced, the margins scant. But it is still elegant and compleat, and Mama found room to underline or make comments in her copperplate handwriting, using peacock-blue fountain pen ink in delicate lines.

I began reading from it every night when I turned 12 and we moved to Brasil, with no TV and either the volumes on our shelves or a few English-language murder mysteries in the bibliotecas all we had as print material. Long after my parents were asleep, I'd lie in the tropical swelter of my room, watching the geckoes in each corner who kept mosquitoes at bay, flipping between lines of iambic pentameter to footnotes and glossary, trying to suck out all the meaning he packed into each phrase. A good way to cope with hormones hitting my bloodstream like galloping mares.

I once heard that the average English sentence produced in everyday conversation by a native speaker tends to run ten syllables in alternating beats. In other words, iambic pentameter sounds like "ordinary talk" to us -- overlay metaphor and epic ideas, and you've got poetry no one can forget because it settles into the grooves of our brains.

I wonder if that's still true any more.

The ratio of allowable Twitter characters to allowable Facebook characters is 1:3. There is no poetry in that decision. The only way around mathematically brutal elision is to cheat by adding a picture or link -- fodder for the ADD crowd who will actually go to prominent writers' blogs and complain about having to read "paragraphs."

So Mama's generation understood how to retain the entirety of a thing while avoiding waste. How would we now reduce the following to a FB friendly discrete chunk -- and what feverish possibilities would be thus lost for a future pubescent looking for doorways to the world?

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings.
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.

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Old Friends

Email today from two old friends, first contact since 1979 when I was still an Army medic in the 101st Airborne at Ft. Campbell, Ky. Wow...

Last week I was contacted by a woman (then a girl) whom I briefly kissed at a New Year's Eve dance 1976-1977. She's single with five kids and lives in Virginia. When I knew her she was single and very innocent. Today she's still sweet. *smiles*

I like how social networks allow old friends to make contact twenty-thirty-forty years later. I think I have some friends on Facebook I've known 40 years. I'd have to check to be certain. I am certain I have some friends I've known 35 years. http://www.facebook.com/jwende

And even though I rarely tweet, people keep attaching to http://twitter.com/JesseWendel *shrugs*

Mostly I use social networks as a means for people to find me, and occasionally for me to find others. Once I'm in contact with the people I want to stay in touch with, I normally do so through email, texting, and telephone. And in person. That's what works for me. It isn't to say I don't sometimes tweet or post to Facebook; I do. And I'll look at people's photos and their posts, sometimes as well. However if a month goes by without my having opened Facebook or Twitter, well, that isn't what I consider a loss. On the other hand, I check my email account 3-5 times a day EXCEPT when I'm ill or taking the day off, or sometimes on weekends. Then, sometimes, I'll let a day or even a day and a half go by without bothering. This past week for example I spent all week home sick, didn't go to work at all. While I did look at my work email, just to make sure nothing major came in which I missed, I left my personal email alone almost completely. I think all week I haven't sent out more than 10-15 emails. Normally I send out 30-50 a day and that's when I'm not really paying attention.

Anyway, it was GREAT to hear from these old friends today. The interesting thing is how different I am now from how I was then. Doesn't mean I can't still be friends with these people -- my best friend in the world is a women who is my best friend as a boy's older sister. We have very different beliefs in a number of areas especially compared to what we believed in at 8, 9, 10 or even at 14-16 although I had already started to shift my behavior if not my beliefs. Yet now, 35 years later, she and I believe very differently but we're best friends and we simply put aside where we don't agree because our friendship matters much more to us than all that other crap.

We'll see if these other old friends are committed to being friends, or are committed to their belief structure. I hope its friendship. I really like these two -- we were great pals back in the day.

Cheers.

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