Business before pleasure?
A recent excursion put me in the fortunate position of meeting a woman that shared many commonalities with me. She is close to my age, a single mother with young adult children and she grew up in the same community as I. Our conversation drifted towards her son's decision to obtain his degree in business administration, find work and his place in society before even considering marriage.
"There are more important things in life than money," she said, adding that her son plans to wait until he is 30 before considering starting a family. I agreed and noted the tendancy of many career-minded adults doing the same thing. She said one of her son's college professors stressed the importance of having financial security before marriage.
While this sounds admirable, we wondered if this generation was dangling on a pendulum that is swinging to a far extreme. I was reminded of a movie I saw recently called "Idiocracy." A bit campy, it seems mindless on the surface but the premise is quite relevant. A man of mediocre intelligence is part of a government experiment in hibernation. A timely accident leaves him in his pod for 500 years. In a montage lasting just a few minutes, the movie shows how educated and career-tracked couples put off marriage and having children. Age and fertility issues obstruct the propagation of future intelligent generations and as a result the world evolves into a populace of moronic baby-machines. When the experimental guinea pig finally awakens, he is lauded as the most intelligent person on the planet.
Business majors are abundant and focus on the bottom line rather than seeing the interconnecting system that creates the red and black ink. Industry and businesses have long abandoned loyalty to employees in favor of high dollar profits for top executives. Stocks, investments, portfolios and interest rates are replacing the family conversations previously focusing on life, love, relationships and dating.
I pointed out that this mass production of business majors is creating a robotic generation that is following popular trend rather than making independent and personal decisions. While my acquaintance had not considered this, she did agree with my observation.
Perhaps these children have witnessed the struggles of their parents and are determined to find a better way of life. Unfortunately, their ideas of betterment may be those of an idealistic society rather than reality and the benefit of finding one's personal best. I would argue that the masses following the path of the often illusive dollar should occasionally look around the trail's side for some of life's free benefits.
"There are more important things in life than money," she said, adding that her son plans to wait until he is 30 before considering starting a family. I agreed and noted the tendancy of many career-minded adults doing the same thing. She said one of her son's college professors stressed the importance of having financial security before marriage.
While this sounds admirable, we wondered if this generation was dangling on a pendulum that is swinging to a far extreme. I was reminded of a movie I saw recently called "Idiocracy." A bit campy, it seems mindless on the surface but the premise is quite relevant. A man of mediocre intelligence is part of a government experiment in hibernation. A timely accident leaves him in his pod for 500 years. In a montage lasting just a few minutes, the movie shows how educated and career-tracked couples put off marriage and having children. Age and fertility issues obstruct the propagation of future intelligent generations and as a result the world evolves into a populace of moronic baby-machines. When the experimental guinea pig finally awakens, he is lauded as the most intelligent person on the planet.
Business majors are abundant and focus on the bottom line rather than seeing the interconnecting system that creates the red and black ink. Industry and businesses have long abandoned loyalty to employees in favor of high dollar profits for top executives. Stocks, investments, portfolios and interest rates are replacing the family conversations previously focusing on life, love, relationships and dating.
I pointed out that this mass production of business majors is creating a robotic generation that is following popular trend rather than making independent and personal decisions. While my acquaintance had not considered this, she did agree with my observation.
Perhaps these children have witnessed the struggles of their parents and are determined to find a better way of life. Unfortunately, their ideas of betterment may be those of an idealistic society rather than reality and the benefit of finding one's personal best. I would argue that the masses following the path of the often illusive dollar should occasionally look around the trail's side for some of life's free benefits.
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