Wake Up Young Americans

I believe with hard work, all ambition Americans have the opportunity to succeed. Does that mean I want to help the poor? Of course I do! Programs like WIC keep food on the table for many needy families, and there is no shame in seeking help if you need it. However, what happens when the needy families aren’t needy at all- they are college educated young people just drowning in student debt with no way to repay it? I was blessed enough to be graduating college with no debt thanks to the sacrifices my parents made. My fellow young Americans? Not so lucky. Google tells me that the class of 2012’s average student debt was $29,400, which is almost six grand MORE than the class of 2008’s average debt which is $23,450, and nearly DOUBLE the class of 2004’s average debt at a mere $18,750.

 What’s going on guys? Is our generation really just lazy bums too busy poppin molly and twerkin to be adults like the media says?

I’ll tell you what I think… it doesn’t sound too pretty, but numbers don’t lie: The old are quite literally eating the young. America used to be a place where with a high school degree and some hard work, a person could provide for their family, put a little money away for retirement, and have a pretty comfortable life. They wouldn’t be rich, but they would be okay.

Today? LOL at saving money. Millennial are called the “boomerang generation” because entirely too many young people either cant find a job, or the only job available is waiting tables or bartending. In fact, of college educated 18-34 year olds, a full SIXTY ONE PERCENT MORE were living with their parents in 2011 than in 2001 according to The Atlantic. It’s disgusting. We are literally negative value.....

Lazy, entitled narcissists who live with their parents...

Did you know that our congressional representatives are getting older? The 111^th congress (we’re in the 113^th right now) was the oldest in history. How can our lawmakers be advocating for the interest of young Americans when they themselves are 20 years older than the people they represent? They can’t. Our leaders are more concerned about helping the old die comfortably than the young get established and be productive members of society.

While eating lunch with Tommy, we were talking about his paycheck….a full QUARTER of it was taken out for taxes….. will he or I ever see a cent of social security benefits? No. How can young people ever ever ever get ahead and do things like buy houses, start families, or IDK pay off $30,000 worth of student debt when all we’re getting as jobs is unpaid internships or being stuck at lowly entry level jobs for the first 10 years of employment? Even the grocery stores are switching to automated check-outs rather than have cashiers....

Did you know that 92% of Congress is over age 40? The average age of the Senate is 62, and the average age of the House is 57…..Do you think middle-aged white rich guys have the same interests as 20 year old middle class people just getting started? Absolutely not. In the 1970's there was a movement to age restrict congress members to 65 or 70... not a bad idea considering you have to be 25 to run for the house. So while the 113^th congress was busy writing 10 different bills to rename post offices, I decided I want to run for office; You have to be at least 21 to run for Texas Representative and wuddyaknow Im 22. Sadly, I missed the deadline to get on the ballot by a few months, but I promise you I will do my damnedest to fix this country when I have the opportunity. How can 80 year old congress members even be awake to hear the arguments? Ive seen senate hearings on CSPAN it looks so so boring!!! You know there must be some serious napping going on in Washington by our esteemed older representatives....

Fun fact- student loans must be paid back with interest. Who sets the interest? Congress. The 62 year old senators, for example, who grew up in the 1950's in the days of  Leave it to Beaver. Right now, you can quite literally finance a house, a car, almost anything with less interest than the student loan interest rates:

Loan Type	First Disbursed between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014
Direct Subsidized Loans (Undergraduate Students)	Fixed at 3.86%
Direct Unsubsidized Loans (Undergraduate Students)	Fixed at 3.86%
Direct Unsubsidized Loans (Graduate or Professional Students)	Fixed at 5.41%
Direct PLUS Loans (Parents and Graduate or Professional Students)	Fixed at 6.41%
Perkins Loans (Undergraduate and Graduate or Professional Students)	Fixed at 5%

 

More fun news coming off the studentaid.ed.gov website? 

“Most federal student loans have loan fees that are deducted proportionately from each loan disbursement you receive. This means the money you receive will be less than the amount you actually borrow. You're responsible for repaying the entire amount you borrowed and not just the amount you received.

Here are the loan fees for federal student loans first disbursed on or after Dec. 1, 2013:

•   1.072% for Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans
4.288% for Direct PLUS Loans for parents and graduate and professional students”

Raise Your Voice- Vote!!!!

Don't think I'm saying we should all go kill our grandparents- not at all! I just want you all to realize the situation we are facing as a generation.... and we aren't exactly being helped out by our lovely baby boomer congress. 

In 2020, the youngest of the millennials will be reaching voting age; at that time, we will have a full 40% of the voting block. Get involved, do your research, and together we really can turn this around.

Wake up Young America…. Before its too late.

Brooke

YOU Are Wonderful; Act like it

Do you believe in fate? In God? In the mystical power of the universe?

I believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that so many twists of fate-so many marriages and so many babies before me-had to have happened for Brooke Trahan to even exist, to live in America, to live in the present day....I am lucky and I am thankful. I believe I have a purpose to fulfill in life, just like you do.

This is why I really have no sympathy for people who commit suicide.
Before you just assume I have no soul, at least hear me out.

Never forget how very special you are

Are you depressed?

Seek help.

There is nothing wrong with needing medical treatment; you wouldn't feel ashamed to go get insulin for your diabetes, would you? Depression is simply a chemical imbalance in your brain, treatable with medication and time.

Still feel worthless?

Kindly stop taking up space and make room for those of us who actually want to be here.

If you are not starving to death, have a roof over your head, and are not living in constant fear for your life-- you are doing better than a lot of people in this world. How selfish can you really be?

I cheated death Saturday night.

Because I am a little darling and like to stand up for those who won't do it themselves, I am here today.

Over spring break, myself and Tommy and another couple spent the weekend in Corpus Christi. Saturday night after going out, the other man-who was raised in Corpus- wanted to show us the Lexington battleship, which they light up at night and is apparently super cool.

On the way there, the other woman wanted to stop and take a picture with the Selena memorial tribute for her mother, a huge Selena fan. Apparently she has been trying to stop for months to take this picture, but the guy is kind of an actual jerk and never would stop... it was always "next time" or "someday." It was always an excuse.

It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it!

When she said "OH! We're going to pass right by it!!! PLEASEEEE?" and he said "No? Tomorrow during the day!" I, being the absolute peach of a little lady that you all know and love, insisted that we take the time.

I mean? C'mon! We were just going to go sit in the hotel anyways? What else can you possibly do at 2 in the morning with out getting arrested?

So he grudgingly pulls over, she snaps a picture or two, and the entire ordeal takes maybe two minutes... but those two minutes probably saved our lives.

We continued toward the Lexington and came around a curve.... where a major car wreck had just happened. There were bodies that had been pulled out of the crumpled vehicles laying in the grass. The crash had happened so soon before we had arrived to that certain spot on the way to the Lexington that the ambulance was not even there yet. 

Two minutes....

I am lucky to be alive. We all are.

Its funny what a near-death experience does to a person...I have never felt more full of purpose or hopeful about my future or more driven to make a change in this world. I am important. I am worthy of love and success and respect and safety and any other good thing that exists on this Earth... just like you are. 

Do not waste a MOMENT 

So if you are having a bad day, make a bad grade, over-sleep for work... just remember all the little things that had to have happened for you to be able to have a bad day.

Take a breathe. Count to 10. Know that I am here if you ever, ever need me.

What will you accomplish when you start living?

"Be thankful for this moment, for this moment is your life"

Love you all!
Brooke

WORDS words WORDS: Bossy Brooke no More

There is this idea I encounter quite frequently whenever I dare to correct someone who has called me "chick" or "sugar" or "babe" that I do indeed have a name that is not an animal, baking commodity, nor child, that efforts toward gender equality is "finished" and "is not necessary any longer." That there is no "white, rich, old man conspiracy group" that does nothing beyond "sitting around smoking cigars and plotting oppression tactics."

This is true. There is no systematic devaluation of the female person by an institution such as... oh idk..... PRINT & DIGITAL & CINEMATIC MEDIA. 
or..... RELIGION.
or..... SCHOOLS.
or..... RAPE CULTURE.

Yes, women in 2014 are now "allowed" to request a divorce, vote, wear jeans, go to college, work outside of the home.... but by NO means is the necessity of women's rights activists eliminated. Its been 40 years since the second wave of the Feminist Revolution, 40 years since equal opportunities for both sexes were demanded-by law- to be provided in educational settings that receive federal funding.... and yet there are, according to 2013 datas:

So true!

• 23 Fortune 500 female CEOs
• FIVE (of 50) female state governors
• the 113th congress has TWENTY female senators (of 100) and 99 of (535) female house members... don't get excited thats 18%.
• Nancy Pelosi is the first EVER female Speaker of the House
• what about newspaper editors? movie directors? school board members? 

The list goes on and on because this is an epidemic.

Yes, simultaneously there is SLOW progress: the fact that Hillary Clinton (a woman in general, not JUST her) may very well be the next president is SUCH greatness and speaks to how we have grown in our thinking.... Except that we call her Hillary. And we judge her hair. And she's "getting older." How disrespectful! No one goes around (perhaps a little bit...but not like this) saying Barak or Paul. Because we respect them. Because we are comfortable with male leadership.

But to say these numbers are acceptable? That we have reached "equality"? That feminism is offensive to men because women are "taking over" and being "helped too much now"? That women do not want to be associated with being a "feminist" because they aren't hairy legged butch lesbians that want to kill all men and store a few under ground for reproduction purposes.... Am I those things? No. I do not want to take over the world. But I AM demanding a better world for my daughters AND sons, and I would like your eyes to be open to the situation.

Yes some women want to be stay at home mothers, and yes some have education degrees, and yes some simply do not WANT to be a person in power because of the stress/time/effort/ect. This is perfectly okay, and I am happy they are living their idea of happy..... But the numbers are not made sensical by such trivial explanations.

Women are 51% of the population, and half of all degrees have gone to women over the last 30 years.... some, of course, are teachers and other professions who are not "qualified" educationally wise to be in power..... but shouldn't logic tell you that the other factors contributing to the male power majority such as the "stay at home moms" and the "ladies who lunch" who simply do not work be statistically balanced by the large group of men who are janitors? Or construction workers? Or ranchers? 18% of house members being female isn't acceptable. Its not representative of the population dynamics nor the values that 51% of the population is affected by more so than the 49%.

I am sure you have heard about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's new initiative, in unison with the Girl Scouts, to ban the word bossy from the vocabulary of parents and teachers. The idea is that girls in classrooms are enthusiastically answering questions and being "classroom helper", then being told to stop being so bossy and loud and to let others take a turn. The little girls are embarrassed; no longer will they find the joy in learning as before, and the will to lead is, if not STOLEN, then greatly diminished. Yes, there are some certain girls who can brush the idea of being too assertive off and move on. But what about the ones that cannot? Who give up right there? Who maybe don't have the parents at home to say "you CAN do anything a boy can do" or "don't let those kids bring you down!"?

Too bad so sad?

How can we move forward if 51% of us are not?

Women will LIE about how much they make on dates in order to not be too "dominating" to men and in order to preserve their tender, fragile masculinity.... why is this even a thought? Why are women not shouting from the rooftops about their accomplishments that yes they EARNED that raise working 60 hours a week? Why not telling the dinner party that they KICKED ASS and earned a big client contract? Some do. But a lot of women constantly undermine accomplishments to partners, friends, and families by phrases like

"oh, well, you know.... I just was lucky and the timing worked out....."

"well, yeah, i mean..... there were not many applicants, so I didn't have much competition...." 

Do you think men do that? No. Because men are "supposed to be" in those positions (as evidenced by history, so its what we culturally expect) and they are taught from the start of their lives that alpha male powerful is what you want in order to support a family, and to also not be the wimpy kid that gets beat up.

I have also heard that men do what they do to impress women: win wars, be a wall street guy, whatever "it" is, the act is used to earn sexual advantages over less capable competition; those cannot be advantageous if you did not "earn" the accomplishment... "right place right time" isn't very sexy. If you didn't brag to the world, how would the ladies know?  But I cannot say if that is absolute fact.

Sandberg's idea is this early negative experience with exhibiting leadership skills is what drives these women in the future to not seek out managerial positions: "I don't want to be the bitch." Her hypothesis is that this is why more women are not upper management positions: 13 years of tongue biting to "play nice" with the other kids and not step on any toes does not build the life skills necessary to BE a good leader. The kind of skills like being comfortable giving directions (not orders) instead of asking "hey when you get a moment can you please do ______."

Both physically and mentally, boys mature later than girls. Should the faster progressing girls (and boys, if they are) be oppressed to make room for the lagging behind boys and slower girls? Wouldn't our country benefit socially, economically et. if the best of the best gets treated like it instead of being handicapped? If said late bloomers aren't on the same "level," I feel that those kids should be held back a year to progress themselves.

Arguments AGAINST the #banbossy campaign say that both genders are called it, its not that relevant, and there are bigger things to worry about that hurting a 7 year old child's feelings. Forbes's contributor Michelin Maynard (a woman) wrote an article on the matter saying

"We don't have to ban words to make young girls feel better. Instead, teach them to believe in possibilities, no matter what anyone says about them, and keep finding ways to move forward."

Considering that Title 9 of the Education Amendments of 1972 says

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal finical assistance."

I beg to differ. It is not about "feeling better" its about facilitating an environment where ideas and life skills and learning thrives; the people that work the hardest and are the brightest get rewarded, not punished. A world where school dress codes DON'T teach girls that wearing shorts, even of appropriate length, are wrongfully stimulating to those poor dear boys. It is funny that "bermuda shorts" are acceptable which are very comparable to male cargo or basketball length shorts. So THAT is ok, but girls you should know that your bodies are disgraceful and not acceptable for public arenas, and it is your responsibility to fight off the middle school pubescent advances of boys; boys, don't worry, we will shield your little eyes.

What does it mean to be equal? In my very clearly subjective opinion, equality of the sexes would be a world where gendered ideology beyond the biologically based reproductive systems (like maternity and paternity leave, the right to not be fired for being pregnant ect.) is eliminated.

An actual ad for a butcher shop. Looks like you matter a lot ladies

Linguistics is a cultural snapshot that serves to reflect the thinking in a moment in time. For example, before the civil rights movement, "nigger" was an acceptable name for a black person; today, that is a word most people would never, ever use in a derogatory sense. When we speak, the words we say are evidence of our own thinking patterns, and are also shading the connotations that other people around you hear and then link to the associated groups in question, both positively and negatively.

Sexism is another construct validated and affirmed through word choice; how men and boys speak and see others speak influences their ideology. For instance, in a perfect world, little boys who enjoy painting are not called sissies as an insult. It is a negative thing to be a sissy but a positive thing for the girl that loves kickball and climbing trees to be a tom-boy because of the value we culturally place on male traits compared to female traits. To be more male-like is valued, to be more female-like is embarrassing.

What about being told to "man up," to "grow a pair," or that someone who IS what a real man should be, perhaps man enough to walk away from a fight "doesn't have any balls." Are these attributes intrinsically positive? NO. To imply that the male sexual organ is a metaphor for success isn't acceptable. It would be different if there was a similar, positive vibe surrounding lady parts; but nah, not needed.

 The female sexual organs gets all the negative connotations that phrases like "stop being a pussy" and "What? Are you on your period today?" bring to mind in situations of failure; "Need a tampon" is yet another linked to actions that are something that YOU as a man are above and better than I as a woman. The "most" offensive word in the entire english language is cunt..... a word meaning vagina. This is not oh men and women are different, or the "separate but equal" idea by any means, its the idea that male is something to embrace and flaunt because its better than female.

Interesting point on that: considering that the male organs are external, thus extremely prone to injury (true story. I've seen many a male doubled over in pain due to a testes tap), and the female organs are internal and capable of oh ya know.... growing a human being from fluids and then bringing new life into the world, you would think the anything related to "balls" and "big dicks" would be extremely weak. But its not. Because "any old animal can pop out a kid."

Because we value masculinity, as a society, at the expense of femininity.

Its a rape hotline ad.... for BIG MACS.

What about the VERY common usage of "raping" as a synonym for "winning:" "I just raped that test;" football coaches saying how we're gonna "rape that team;" the very most disgusting, dehumanizing act of forcefully stealing a woman's (and very very rarely a man's) dignity and killing a piece of who they were, forever tainting their view that maybe the world is a good place, an act that HAPPENS EVERY SINGLE DAY ....is glorified. An act that is RARELY served jail time for (15 out of 16 will not says Rape Abuse, and Incest National Network),  that is thought of as "not really a thing anymore," an act that is just a risk of happening to be female. Rape also happens to simply go away with money or power  because all you have to say is "she was drunk and she consented and she changed her mind." ... This CRIME means winning and being the victor in our culture.

We don't teach "hey boys! don't rape it's wrong!" we teach "hey girls! you are weak and a victim so don't walk alone, don't drink too much, don't let a guy pick you up for a date cause then he will know where you live, don't run at night time because you are a walking target."  Yes, it is my responsibility to be smart, but it is NOT my responsibility to guard my every move such as hiring a corp escort to walk me across campus after studying late. Men and boys are responsible.

A Brown School of Medicine 2010 study found that 91%.... NINETY ONE PERCENT....of all rapes are committed by undetected repeat offenders. Maybe that has something to do with the CBS investigation in 2009  that found in TEXAS... where we live people.... there is 10,000 untested rape kits in Dallas, 3,000 in Houston, and another 5,000 untested kits in San Antonio. Google it. I promise. EIGHTEEN THOUSAND women, in Texas, in Cities we have both likely been to.... these 18,000 just simply do not matter enough to get justice for.... Are you disgusted yet? It is estimated that of every 100 rapes, only 40 get reported. Do the math.

This is deeply engrained, culturally acceptable promotion of the inferiority of women. Question it. Demand answers. And change the world for the better for both MEN AND WOMEN. who possess their different strengths and weaknesses. Where the problem arises is when the differences are not valued; that is the definition of 3rd wave feminism.

So tell me again how we're "all equal."
That America is land of the free, home of brave; a land of equal opportunity.
That you "aren't a feminist."
That you "don't see a reason for it"

Think of the 5% of CEOs and the 18% of house members and the 20% of senators and the five total female governors.

Then think of those 18,000 women and the 18,000 rapes and the 18,000 men (maybe less...repeat offenders remember.) who will never do a second of time for their brutal, life-changingly traumatic, soul crushing hate crime against women IN TEXAS.

And then tell me you aren't a feminist.

Brooke