The Volokh Conspiracy
[Todd Zywicki, May 12, 2008 at 2:02pm] Trackbacks
PJ O'Rourke's Commencement Address:

Here. "Don't moan. I'm not going to "pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next." I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom."

Via (Joe Malchow).

AntonK (mail):
Now that was an enjoyable read!
5.12.2008 2:06pm
srg:
Very funny.
5.12.2008 2:08pm
gab:
I didn't see where he gave this commencement address.
5.12.2008 2:11pm
Terrivus:
PJ O'Rourke is still hilarious. And still an excellent wordsmith.

(BTW, I don't think he actually gave this anywhere; it appears to be a column or article. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
5.12.2008 2:23pm
Archit (www):
The first point is a good one, the rest is drivel. A treehugging idealist can do a $100,000 of good. Politicians might be more likely tell the truth if more people became politically involved. The world's unfairness is not axiomatically true. And I really don't think the Tenth Commandment somehow forbids progressive taxation.
5.12.2008 2:23pm
alias:
gab, he didn't give it anywhere. There are lots of people who don't get invited to speak anywhere who think it would still be fun to write commencement speeches. This is one of them.

Good read nonetheless.
5.12.2008 2:24pm
ChrisIowa (mail):
It's far too short to have been a real commencement speech. Which is a tragedy.
5.12.2008 2:45pm
R Gould-Saltman (mail):
O'Rourke used to be funny (along about the middle of the Nat Lamp's run). Now he's just cranky.

r gould-saltman
5.12.2008 2:52pm
TRex (mail):
If you remember the '60's, you weren't really there.
5.12.2008 3:09pm
Terrivus:
The first point is a good one, the rest is drivel. A treehugging idealist can do a $100,000 of good. Politicians might be more likely tell the truth if more people became politically involved. The world's unfairness is not axiomatically true. And I really don't think the Tenth Commandment somehow forbids progressive taxation.

Archit, I bet you're a big hit at parties.
5.12.2008 3:10pm
Q the Enchanter (mail) (www):
"We didn't have any wisdom."

And some things apparently never change.
5.12.2008 3:13pm
DiverDan (mail):
I thought it was ALL good advice -- especially the bit about Politics being incompatible with Truth.


But the problem isn't politicians -- it's politics. Politics won't allow for the truth. And we can't blame the politicians for that. Imagine what even a little truth would sound like on today's campaign trail:

"No, I can't fix public education. The problem isn't the teachers unions or a lack of funding for salaries, vouchers or more computer equipment The problem is your kids!"


There are so many problem areas -- the Social Security deficit, public education, health care, etc., etc., where the plain unvarnished truth would be the death knell of any political campaign.
5.12.2008 3:14pm
Thoughtful (mail):
Tangent:

Best commencement speech ever. Steve Jobs. 2006. Stanford. Online. Google it. Brings tears to the eyes.
5.12.2008 4:11pm
subpatre (mail):
Archit writes A treehugging idealist can do a $100,000 of good. . .
You should capitalize acronyms 'Conceivably in Alternate-reality, Nominally'. I agree they C.A.N., it's just there are no examples of that happening in this world.
Politicians might be more likely tell the truth if more people became politically involved. . . .
Again, an example from this planet might help your case.
The world's unfairness is not axiomatically true. . . .
In theory. In reality, you don't have the same mental facilities as I am endowed with. It may not be fair, it may be a blessing; but it's fact. There are small exceptions, but life simply isn't fair.
. . . And I really don't think the Tenth Commandment somehow forbids progressive taxation.
The 10th is shorthand for dozens of others about 'Don't embezzle, convert, swindle, cheat, etc. etc. It could be summarized "Don't go there, the stuff's not yours". In that light, progressive taxation is a sin.

O'Rourke knows his stuff.
5.12.2008 4:28pm
Mike Keenan:
I like the advice to his daughter. I intend to use a variant of it tonight!

I've got a 10-year-old at home. She's always saying, "That's not fair." When she says this, I say, "Honey, you're cute. That's not fair. Your family is pretty well off. That's not fair. You were born in America. That's not fair. Darling, you had better pray to God that things don't start getting fair for you
5.12.2008 4:36pm
Hoosier:
Why do I always have to make this point about my generation? (Answer: We're all too detached and lazy to motivate ourselves to correct Boomers.)

Yet HERE IT GOES:

My generation spoiled everything for you.

No. You spoiled everything for US. For Gen X.

By the time these current grads are ready to move into your hig-paying, top-ranking jobs, you'll be retired. You are just messing it up for those of us who OUGHT to be moving up the ladder now. ("Boomers want to put retirement off later than did their parents."--Well, I have NEWS for you geriatric hippies! You are OUT at 65!)
5.12.2008 5:07pm
gab:
I have a serious disagreement with this line, "I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom."

Anybody who watched a president, his brother who was a presidential candidate, and a noted civil rights leader get assassinated, and didn't learn at least a little something must not have been paying attention.

Someone who watched the war in Vietnam begin and escalate, and result in thousands of American lives being lost, and didn't learn anything, must not have been living on this planet.

O' Rourke might not have any wisdom, but he should speak for himself, not for a whole generation.
5.12.2008 5:08pm
Hoosier:
gab: It's not about the Boomer generation. It's about the meta-narrative about the Boomer generation.

Something like this-- You guys said: "Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n Roll!" Gen X got AIDS, crack, and Gangsta Rap.

Gee, thanks.
5.12.2008 5:17pm
Floridan:
I think the fact that P. J. O'Rourke was not asked to give a commencement adress by any college or university speaks well for higher education in America.
5.12.2008 6:07pm
frankcross (mail):
He's a humorist. Commenters seem a little too defensive.
5.12.2008 6:40pm
nunca (mail):
My favorite passage:

Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."
5.12.2008 7:02pm
Dean:
Everything that writer said conflicts with my world view, so it is offensive. He must be especially stupid or evil to say such things. No, stupid AND evil. Please escort him off campus immediately. How dare he threaten free inquiry in the academy?
5.13.2008 11:15am

PicoSearch
Help