Salient Correspondence
 
To the Editors:

I am writing to compliment you on your recent article about the Rally for Justice.î Your title hit the nail right on the head: these kids have no clue what theyíre talking about.

As I walked by the rally, I was truly embarrassed to be at the university where it took place. This rally is a shining example of the reasons why people make fun of Harvard students. Though all three issues are legitimate and worthy of discussion, the protestors addressed them in an utterly mindless fashion. Instead of attempting to make a real argument for their causes, they yelled slogans that they had heard on documentaries about the 1960s. Their signs were no more intelligent than their chants: one of the posters read, ěRape Sucks!î Unfortunately for the protestors, no police showed up with tear gas and water cannons, and they returned to their dorm rooms without the full experience of a rally against the Establishment.

Curious about what Harvard employees think about the whole ěliving wageî campaign, I brought up the protest to a few secretaries and custodians I know. All of them agreed that a $10 minimum wage would be nice, but that Harvard student protestors truly have no idea what theyíre talking about. One secretary told me, ěYou know, I didnít want to say it to them at the time, but these kids are really clueless.î

What truly offended me about the rally was the protestorsí claims to the moral prerogative to yell at the rest of us about sweatshops and the ěliving wage.î Before they started to express their self-righteous indignation at Harvardís alleged human rights abuses, maybe they should have taken a look at how they managed to finance their own educations. How many of their parents have instituted a ěliving wageî at their companies and offices? Like the freshman in my Social Analysis section who tried to tell me that American workers are too stupid or brainwashed to know that they should all be communists, the protestors showed a great deal of arrogance and condescension by claiming the moral authority to tell us how we should think.

Thanks so much for your article about the rally. Iím glad to know that someone realizes just how mindless it really was.

Sincerely,
Michael Hellerstein '99  
 


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