RUSH: Julie in Chicago. Hi, Julie. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi. How are you? Thanks so much for having me on the show.
RUSH: You bet.
CALLER: Yeah, so I was just calling because I am kind of like your first caller; I also have a master’s degree in education, I’m unable to find a job, and so hearing all these teachers just choosing not to go in to work (groans) is a little disheartening, but what really got me was the Madison students who were protesting, and they have no idea why. That for me as a young adult — I’m 26 — I’m kinda trying to figure out like, what can I do to help my generation realize what’s really going on instead of thinking that Comedy Central and Saturday Night Live are really the news. (scoffs)
CALLER: (laughing)
RUSH: Direct them to this show. Tell ’em to put aside their prejudice, bias, whatever they’ve heard about it. Tell them that it would be wise to start questioning everything they were taught in college about politics and about government.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Any number of things. How many of your friends like you are out of work or for whatever other reason economically challenged?
CALLER: I definitely have quite a few friends who have hefty school loans to pay back, counting myself, my family, yeah. So I think that’s something, too, that will reach them.
RUSH: When you talk to them about their circumstances, do they blame anybody? Do they think there’s someone to blame in a political sense? Do they think somebody politically responsible for their plight?
CALLER: You know, the typical attitude I think is to kind of, yeah, shirk the responsibility like, ‘Oh, it’s the government’s fault in general.’
RUSH: Mmm-hmm.
CALLER: You know, not really finding a real reason for what’s going on or even just, you know, ‘I’m just gonna get a job and work my butt off so that I can get to where I need to be regardless of, you know, circumstance.’ That’s kind of where I find myself starting with a new company, just trying my best to work my way up because I may never get a teaching job that I think that I wanted in the first place.
RUSH: Hang in there. You’re in Chicago, you’re not far from Wisconsin. There may be some openings. Would you be willing to work for $89,000 a year?
CALLER: (laughing) Um, I think so! Yeah.
RUSH: Well, that’s what they’re making, $89,000, and you have their salary and benefits. That’s what they’re running around ticked off about here.
CALLER: I know. I think it’s pretty selfish, really, if you think about it; and I really think that, you know, if they could just kind of take a step back and see what is really going on… I mean, I guess I can’t say that they would, you know, buy into it, but you really wish that they would because it really is selfish, not only for, you know, the kids obviously but, the whole community in general, everyone. It’s very, very selfish.
RUSH: You know, I always struggle when people ask me, ‘What could young people do to get more involved?’ and the reason is that when I was your age, when I was 16, I believed what I believe now. Nobody had to teach me to get involved. Nobody had to tell me where I was wrong about what I believed. Now, I had the benefit only going to college for a half year so my mind was free from the assault of academia.
CALLER: (laughing)
RUSH: And I had a very politically involved family, very smart people, so I was lucky in that regard. I’ve never had to have a fire lit under me to get involved, and I’ve never had to get a fire lit under me to know when certain politicians are full of it. So it’s hard. You always try to put yourself in other people’s shoes, and when I do that, I don’t understand. You know, nobody would… If I had gone to college, I will guarantee you, there’s not one instructor who would have ever been able to indoctrinate me. I was just that firm in my resolve at what I knew and what I believed.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: So it’s hard for me to sit here and to come up with ideas about what to do to get involved, but, seriously, tell ’em to question authority and look at someplace other than Comedy Central or wherever else they’re looking.