By SAM PALMER
Guest Columnist
In just 10 years, technology has exponentially increased, allowing people to live better and carefree lives. Now, somebody can send a text message with their voice instead of meeting someone in person to communicate with him or her.
For the most part, these advances have made life easier for the everyday tasks, but I have begun to realize that it is also creating a sense of entitlement.
Our generation has grown into a bunch of people who feel they’re entitled to something when in reality they have put no effort toward what they want.
This has resulted in what I like to call “the complaining generation.” This could be considered ironic because I am complaining about our generation complaining. However, the reasoning behind my complaint is to make people aware of what is happening and offer ways to change it.
Most of our grandparents were a part of “the greatest generation.” A generation who lived through the Great Depression, liberated Europe then developed the United States into a world superpower.
The greatest generation was a bunch of doers. They had a goal and would go out and achieve it, not sit around and complain about their problems.
I have noticed that at Allegheny College people tend to complain about anything imaginable, whether it is their course load or the athletic teams.
“In absolutely every category imaginable, Allegheny College is pretty mediocre,” wrote Bryan Weisgal, ’14. This statement was in an opinion piece in the Nov. 1 issue of The Campus.
Weisgal was referring to both Allegheny athletics and academics.
In response, I have two simple questions.
If you feel so strongly about Allegheny being mediocre and then have the will to write it in the Campus, why are you still here?
Why would anyone want to associate with mediocrity?
“This is no one’s fault and as disappointing as it is, I have no real solution,” Weisgal wrote.
This is another example of the complaining generation. I don’t mean to pick on Weisgal, but his article was a clear example of attitudes at Allegheny.
Our generation is the quickest to point fingers, but only a small portion of individuals offer some insight into how to find solutions.
In an article I wrote a month ago about the different challenges every discipline brings, I was adamant that students tend to complain about their own major or discipline.
In that article, Professor Callen said that the reason there is tension between disciplines is because people are protective of their own division and enjoy pointing out the weaknesses of others while emphasizing their own strengths.
People believe their own major brings challenges and has an immense amount of course load compared to others.
A problem with that claim and Weisgal’s claim about mediocrity at Allegheny is that there is no evidence to back any of their statements up.
Most people at Allegheny only take intro level courses in other diciplines and do not understand other majors as much as their own. This leads them to make claims with no knowledge to back them up.
Weisgal’s article began making claims about Allegheny sports being mediocre a statement that can be refuted with evidence that Allegheny athletic teams are competitive.
For instance, the men’s cross country team went to the national championship and the men’s golf and tennis teams achieved national rankings last year. Just this week, the women’s soccer team won the NCAC championship on Saturday and the women’s softball team went to the NCAA regional finals.
It was also mentioned that some teams are not playing to their potential right now, but as with most sports teams, they will bring it back and become competitive again.
The point is that people should not be complaining to complain. The foundations of every great organization and individual in life is about what they did, not what they said.
If a person feels the need to complain or challenge an idea, then find a way to fix it.
People do not care if you can talk about problems; they only care if you fix them.