Choking Game Deadly

According to a recent government report, the choking game, in which people restrict their oxygen flow in order to achieve a moment of euphoria, has killed 82 youths since 1995. What do you think?

Matt Norton,
Knife Sharpener
“Why is it that a few irresponsible kids have to go and spoil choking for the rest of us?”

Kelvin Hart,
Surveyor
“History sure does repeat itself. They used to say the same thing about the slice-yourself-in-the-jugular game.”

Angel Mould,
Crossing Guard
“I predicted something like this would happen when they took the good shit out of model glue.”

Today’s photo of the day shows John Amos, the greatest father in the history of television!!!

Today’s video of the day shows me on Fox News debating Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, who says that Barack Obama “defended the racist preacher” Jeremiah Wright. While his ridiculous comments don’t surprise me, I can’t understand why he keeps calling me “Lamar”…

XXL: Are you following the presidential race?
DMX: Not at all.

XXL: You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
DMX: His name is Barack?!

XXL: Barack Obama, yeah.
DMX: Barack?!

XXL: Barack.
DMX: What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?

XXL: Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
DMX: Barack Obama?

XXL: Yeah.
DMX: What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.

XXL: You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
DMX: I ain’t really paying much attention.

XXL: I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black…
DMX: Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, “Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit” [laughs] “That ain’t your fuckin’ name.” Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.

XXL: So you’re not following the race. You can’t vote right?
DMX: Nope.

It’s a Cold, Cold World
Matthew Birkhold

Ask any new law school graduate and they will tell you that coming out of school with six-figure debt is a daunting reality.  Apparently, it is so daunting that less than ten percent of Harvard Law School graduates work in public service.  To remedy this, according to Tuesday’s New York Times, Harvard Law School will begin waiving tuition for third year students who plan to work for public interests.  While the program is good, it’s a sad reality that young people have to be bribed to work for the public.  Despite high levels of debt, young people’s choice to pursue corporate work at the expense of service for financial reasons is indicative of our generation’s willingness to place profit before human wellbeing.

According to author Daniel Brook, lawyers aren’t the only ones feeling the student debt crunch.  In, The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner Take All America, Brooks argues that young people are betraying their conscious because they come out of school with so much debt that they are forced to take jobs on Wall Street, or as accountants, or corporate lawyers simply to stay afloat and afford health insurance.

According to Brooks, many young people are working in careers with great moral conflict because they don’t believe in the corporate work and consumerism in which they engage.  After describing the phenomenon to someone as “selling out,” someone responded, “‘Sellout’ is harsh, but it’s not too strong a word.’ A leftist with a liberal arts degree, he had gone to Wall Street after years stuck in unpaid internship limbo convinced him to give up on his dream of a career as a muckraking journalist. ‘That’s how hegemony works,’ he offered, referencing a key concept of Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist theorist. ‘The system can contain all of the dissenters.’”  Gramsci also argued that resistance is absorbed only if dissenters consent to it.

Educated young people are indeed placed in a precarious position filled with difficult decisions.  Yet we are not victims.  Brooks argues that some sort of federal legislation is needed to make life more affordable which would then allow young people to follow their hearts and be comfortable.  Brooks is not wrong.  In response, I have to ask why the federal government would be willing to do anything if we’re not willing to do it on our own however.  Instead of waiting on the federal government to create a reality where young people can be both happy and rich, young people need to decide if their happiness is more important than money.  Making such a decision may very well create a very different kind of wealth.

Matt Birkhold is a Brooklyn based independent scholar, educator, and writer.  His work appears weekly at NewsOne.com. He is founder of Political Education Outreach Collective and can be reached at birkhold (at) gmail (dot) com.