At one point Maher refers to fraternities as "cults" and I couldn't agree more.
Now since there were no fraternities in the two colleges that I occasionally attended in my youth, I do not have first hand knowledge of what goes on inside one of them.
But I read. And most of what I have learned is that they are often the kind of place you don't want your son to join, or your daughter to wake up inside of after a night of drinking.
In my experience the more guys you add to a group the lower the combined IQ and the higher the instance of stupid, potentially illegal, male behaviors.
You know kind of like the military. And the priesthood.
No other country has so many secret societies at all walks of life than the US. And that's because Americans traditionally had a need to look down on someone else, to exclude someone else to make themselves feel superior. The Right-wing hasn't evolved out of it yet.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally last night I watched a movie called 'Take Care of My Little Girl', about sororities and fraternities, that caused a huge outcry upon its release in 1951 when it was released- some organizations felt so exposed that they called for the movie to be banned.
We have a saying up here in the hills & hollers. It refers to getting work out of the junior male species, but it would be just as applicable to college students. Maybe even more.
ReplyDelete"If you have one boy, you have half a man. If you have two boys, you have half a boy. And if you have three boys, you ain't got no boys at all."
Very true! However, I would agree more with the first sentence in your last paragraph if it read, "You know kind of like the volunteer military." We had a much broader cross section of our country's citizens when we had the draft! The American military is now dominated by ultra-conservatives and the religious right.
ReplyDeleteYes, preying on uneducated young men who are very vulnerable to the brainwashing necessary not only to make them believe in Christianity, but to then make them ignore the teachings of Jesus as they are taught to become murderers (yes, Sarah, that includes Kyle and your future SIL.)
DeleteIf the repubs. succeed in getting the war they want so badly, then draft notices should be handed to EVERY member of frats. FIRST. No exceptions for rich little brats this time. EVERYONE's kids need to find out what REAL war is like.
DeleteCOMPLETELY O/T
ReplyDeleteGet Ready To RUMBLE: Glenn Beck And Karl Rove Throwdown Over The GOP
http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=26368
OMG! The very first comment was pure gold
labman57 on 3/21/2015 said:
Kinda like Lex Luther vs. Dr. Evil — let the games begin!
For someone with no college degree and no military experience you sure do like to talk trash about both. Oh I forgot, you're a teachers aide, a martial arts instructor, and a blogger from the nations least populated state. Oh and I bet you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express at least once. I guess that puts you at the same intellectual level of that other genius from Alaska, silly Sarah.
ReplyDeleteLet me guess, DGM, you graduated summa cum laude and resided in Beta Phi Delta?
DeleteGee, DGM, and what are your credentials exactly? Let us guess. NRA member since age 14. Boy Scout, but never made Eagle. Top 10% at your high school of 100 seniors. State College, but no degree. Work as a manager at McDonald's so you can boss people around. I bet you are even one of those Little League parents my umpire husband can' t stand...loud mouth bullies who scream at their kids, the ump and everyone else over a kids' game.
Delete@DGM
DeleteI guess your comment puts you at the same intellectual level as the "immature" troll.
Gryphen "talks trash" about college degrees? Is that what you call graduating from hair school, or skin school, these days?
DeleteIn my college days - fraternities and sororities were the 'supposed' biggies to join! I never had a desire - guess I was too independent!
ReplyDeleteI'm female and saw the sorority bunch always seeming quite uppity!
Yup. I was just a poor kid trying to make enough money to stay in school..first one in my family to even go to college. I refused to waste my time and money drinking and chasing after drunk guys. How stupid.
DeleteMy small-ish campus (10,000 students) didn't have any Greeks until my senior year, so I saw with my own eyes how the environment changed. Since there were never any frat houses or sorority houses, the jerks were plopped in the middle of the dorms. As you can imagine, sexual assaults, alcohol poisoning, and assaults skyrocketed on campus. Girls who had previously seemed sane were now thrilled to be sorority "little sisters" completely responsible for cleaning up after and doing laundry for the frat boys. It was appalling.
Delete"Since 1970, there's been at least one hazing-related death every year as pledges routinely endure alcohol poisoning, sleep deprivation, waterboarding, being dressed in diapers, buried in trash, force-fed cat food," he said. "Jesus, why not just pledge ISIS?"
ReplyDeleteI love Bill Maher.
Or join the US Special Forces...'cause we're just 'exceptional.'
Delete"...one hazing-related death every year..."
DeleteThe Darwin Awards have to get candidates from somewhere.
BIT O/T- but interesting:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rabble-rouser/201411/contempt-conservatism-religion-and-history
My roommate pledged a sorority. A pair of idiot women "sisters" turned up in our dorm room telling me that they were there to "mess up" my roommate's side of the room. I ejected the pair with a mere pointy glare. My roommate later wonderingly inquired "how did you stop them?" as if I had worked a miracle.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good lesson in how cheerfully an intelligent person reverts in imbecilic thinking on entering a sorority.
But I don't think banning the Greeks does any good. Immature people arrive at college desperate to empower themselves by hazing someone else. Fraternities and sororities fill the vacuum of their weak personalities.
Besides laughing at their stupidity is great entertainment for the more enlightened portion of the student body.
Until someone gets hurt or dies.
DeleteI pledged a frat in my freshman year in college. I thought it would be a good way to get into the in crowd. Animal House is not far from the truth. When went camping one weekend and they trashed a ranger station that's when I quit. But they were all proud of the fact that most of the men in congress and on the boards of Fortune 500 countries are "Greek Brothers." Because once you are in, you're in for life.
ReplyDeleteMade me very realize why the U.S. is so F'd up.
Ah yes, the very special, oh so important boys and girls clubs. Never appealed to me. I don't feel the need to be a part of some little club. I am me. An individual. Free to be me.
ReplyDeleteI won't claim a political party. Their little rah rah cheer leading events aren't my thing. I proudly have NP after my name.
The only club I would have considered joining is the 'Our Gang' gang. No Gurls Allowed indeed.
I was too busy working to enjoy the luxuries of getting sloshed with a bunch of girls I wouldn't bother to give the time of day in any other situation, but one of my roomies joined because her mom and grandmom belonged. All it did was stunt her learning, turned her into an alcoholic and promiscuous as hell.
ReplyDeleteI never felt the need to "belong" so I didn't miss much.