humanitarianism

speaking as an american, the college system really never fails to astound me with how shallow it is. i've made it pretty clear that i'm really privileged, and the people around me in high school were as well. of course, it's not like i'm saying i have universally good takes. i'm privileged at the end of the day and that'll always kind of bleed into my views and beliefs, even if i try to make myself aware of what happens in the world. i don't really think i'm the right person to take a superior stance for that reason, but i think that i'm at least alright with talking about other people i've seen. this ties really heavily into how college is perceived in america, as being just a stepping stone towards a better future, but this promotes this really unhealthy culture around getting into a good college. i know someone who literally prewrote her college essay, trying to get into columbia, before she took her "humanitarian" trip over to nigeria. she's not white, but it felt to me as being basically the same as a white missionary visiting the americas for the first time in the hint of casual racism, of treating them as sort of placid people waiting for her help. i hate this sort of condescending humanitarianism that's employed. it's so clear to me that these kinds of people don't actually see the people they're helping as people, just as stepping stones to get into college. and perhaps the argument could be made that they're still helping others at the end of the day, but this is terribly shallow, and oftentimes these high schoolers building wells don't know what the hell they're doing anyway.

i don't think it's really that hard to be a good person; yes, you have biases built into you from where you were raised and how, but i like to believe in a sort of inherent part of human nature being to want to see others succeed. i think capitalism has really removed us all from that. insulated by wealth, you don't really have to learn about the true plights of others. it leads to really disconcerting things, like her posting a selfie of her posing in a fancy restaurant in a silk dress while technically on a humanitarian mission. and i'm not saying that you can't want to enjoy your life while helping people, i'm just saying that it reads as despicably shallow when you've made it clear that your only purpose in going to visit and do these humanitarian activities is so that you can get into college. but then again, what do i really know?