In response: Nobody owes you anything "University education
By John Williams, Contributor AFTER READING Avia Ustanny's article (Saturday, May 26) entitled Living in a material world, Part I, I could only sigh wistfully and reflect on the late playwright George Bernard Shaw's famous words: "Youth is wasted on the young." I hope to God that the sentiments expressed in the article is just a sample of a few. If this is the reflection of most young people, then Jamaica is in deeper trouble than I thought. The young people interviewed all said that they want the good life, riches, all the expensive material things that money can buy. Of course they demand high paying jobs to fulfil their various fantasies. But alas, nobody said how they are going to earn these expensive peccadilloes. What they fail to understand is that to achieve anything good in life somebody has to sweat for it. I quote from the Bible: "A fool and his money will soon be parted." The thing I found most glaring is that, although receiving a good education, they apparently received little or no positive training in this thing called life. If they had, they would have known that life is not a joke or a game. Nobody owes anyone a living. Another biblical quotation clearly states: "By the sweat of your brow ye shall eat bread." It is the popular belief in Jamaica that Government, the wider society, teachers, employers, foreigners etc. are responsible for our happiness, motivation, pleasures, rich lifestyles and all we should contribute is a few CXC passes. Stop dreaming! You can get all the things you want by putting your shoulders to the wheel. The young adult who is qualified and cannot get a job is worse off than the handcart man, and would suggest that such persons have not planned their life and career in advance. Anyone who enters university just to get a job or promotion has wasted his/her parents and taxpayers money. University education should be used to create additional enterprises instead of wasting valuable time and money on joining the already long unemployment line, while pining for useless, expensive lifestyles. Why should I use my money to open a business for you to loaf and luxuriate? If I can start a business so can you. At the end of the article, one young man said: "It is foolishness to pay people a little bit and still expect them to give you their all." Utter rubbish! Let me remind him that no one is obligated to employ anybody. People are employed when there is a need for his or her service. Your employer is not responsible for your health, wealth, and your pursuit of happiness. That is the prerogative of each and everyone of us in our own lives. We all should strive to give our best in all our endeavours, only then will we be able to fulfil all our needs and wants. It was Henry Thoreau who said it so aptly: "Man is the richest, whose pleasures are the cheapest."
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