Your world... to the Max: Taking JCU seriously - not philosophy

The weekly column by World News Editor Max Flessner

It has been said that education is the silver bullet; the one thing that can create solutions to the social and political issues we encounter every day.

As we graduate and continue along our chosen career path– whether it be in medicine, law, education, social justice, journalism or any other field– we have a unique opportunity to address issues head on and make this a better country, and world, to live in.

There are problems that are repeatedly discussed, yet, there seems to be no solutions in sight. How do we help the poor? What should we do about Social Security? Is there a solution to the healthcare or climate crisis? Should we be fighting a war? These are all things that will need to be addressed in the very near future for America to proceed successfully into the 21st century and beyond.

There are Band-Aid solutions in the works right now, but as administrations and parties change, so will the answers to these questions. The inconsistent solutions cannot have a lasting impact.

If we, as a country, want lasting solutions then we need to create them for ourselves and this, our education, is where it starts.

Bad news– this means that it might be important to take the core seriously, and your major work more so. While I have completed the core, I’m not sure that I did it right. Looking back, I’m pretty sure my main focus was to simply “knock those classes out.” I know a few professors who are going to kill me for saying that.

If I had an extra $60,000 I’m not sure that I’d turn down the opportunity to redo some of the classes I took and be more serious about them – well everything but philosophy, thank God that’s over.

The great thinkers of our time are the people that will solve the major social issues in America, and to achieve a lasting and effective solution it is important to be well-versed in several different areas of academia. It is also important to be able to accept a plurality of ideas when thinking about solutions and at a school like JCU, a liberal arts and Catholic institution, we have a rare opportunity to increase our understanding of what that means.

Unfortunately, that is not to what we, as students, aspire. We worry more about how much money we will make and where we will have to relocate for our first job. These trivial matters cannot, and should not, take precedence over making the world we live in better.

When we, as a society, are trying to fix social issues, we too often turn our attention to silly issues – issues like banning gay-marriage – rather than trying to solve problems that will make our world better, and the world of those who will come after us.

If education really is the key, then it is time to take it more seriously. It’s time to actually sit down and read that book that has been sitting on a shelf for years, to go to class and also to experience the world around us. Don’t stay shackled in your dorm room studying; to have an understanding of issues in this world you need to experience them. The only way to do that is to go out and be a part of them.

So read a book worth reading, travel to a foreign country and have fun with your friends. But always be observant of the world around you and be thinking of ways that you can help fix it; for if we don’t, we will be writing a bleak future, for us and for our children.