To the Class of 2022: Maybe Don't Reach for the Stars
Common Sense | Kathleen Stock
A witty and candid commencement address that no one asked Stock to give, but if you know a ‘22 grad, it’s worth a share. Among other pieces of advice, she warns that “divid[ing] the world into the ‘us’ of the victimized and the ‘them’ of the victimizers…doesn’t help members of the groups you think you are supporting—who didn’t ask to be cast as bit parts in these weirdly reversed heroes’ journeys of the privileged.”
Stock starts off grounding her audience: “[Wherever] your individual talents or interests may lie, statistically speaking you are highly unlikely to make any noticeable difference whatsoever to anything…This may sound like bad news. But I actually hope it will come as a huge relief.”
“I’m not surprised so many of you seem to feel anxious and guilt-ridden. It’s as my generation has resurrected the doctrine of original sin—except that we’re asking you to expiate for our sins, too… Perhaps that’s partly why, if you don’t mind me saying, quite a lot of you seem to be living in a rather dramatic moral universe: one where you feel you must be constantly sorting people into unredeemable villains or unimpeachable saints, and not sparing yourselves in the process.”
“…I think it might bring you some relief to ditch the inherited guilt. In my experience, feeling guilty for things you haven’t done tends to make you miserable, ineffective, and, ironically, less able to face up to your real faults with honesty and accountability.”
Stock describes a time when moral relativism was the rage, only for the pendulum to swing to hyper-moralism— ”It will take historians and commentators years to fully understand how self-styled progressives have got caught up in such a puritanical frenzy—not least because so many of those we rely on to explain such things are currently immersed in the frenzy themselves.”
“…Feeling so much sympathy for the victimized other in your feverish imagination…you divide the world into the ‘us’ of the victimized and the ‘them’ of the victimizers, but only in the name of mentally castigating yourself for being part of the ‘them’ … [it] may feel good for a while, especially where you can get social capital for it by performing rituals of self-abasement in public, but ultimately it doesn’t help anyone. In particular, it doesn’t help members of the groups you think you are supporting—who didn’t ask to be cast as bit parts in these weirdly reversed heroes’ journeys of the privileged.”
As she closes, she tells grads, “The truth is that for most of us, gaining real ethical wisdom—as opposed to the docile ingestion of dogma from others—takes time and experience…”
Among other things, she recommends: “Increasing the range of experiences you’re prepared to admit into your lexicon. Read a book of scary ideas with an open mind. Admit when you’ve changed your views. Stand up for good art made by bad people. Name something you admire about someone that you despise… Find a hero’s journey narrative that pushes you towards the light and not deeper into the cave… [and while] you probably won’t ever change the world on a grand scale, you can still be much braver and happier than perhaps you dare to dream of now.”
