Reblogged:UCLA Freshman Ashly: A Case Study in Entitlement

[Michael J. Hurd Ph.D.]

From Fox News:

Moving into a new place right out of high school can cause some anxiety for incoming freshman and it doesn’t really help when the new roommate isn’t the person you expect them to be.

One UCLA freshman, identified as Ashly, has already caused a rift after making some demands to her two roommates, that she hasn’t even met yet, in an email that has since gone viral, Fox LA reported Tuesday.

One of the roommates, identified as Winnie, who received the email shared Ashly’s message on Twitter earlier this month.

The email read:

“Okay so I’m not sure why neither of you responded back to my emails, but I don’t really care as long as you both know this and understand that I’m not going to settle for anything less than what I’m gonna tell you that I’m gonna get once I arrive in the dorm. I’ll take the top bunk. I DO NOT want the single bunk where it has a desk underneath the top bunk so don’t try to leave me that. I’m also taking one of the white closets. There should be two white closes and I’m taking one of them. I don’t care which one it is, just know I’m taking one of them.

“I want the desk that’s near the window. Plain and simple. I don’t care about who gets the bottom bunk but just know that what I stated above is what I’m expecting once I arrive at the dorm and I won’t be in the mood for any arguing or other nonsense because one of you two decided to deliberately disregard this email. IF needed be I’ll turn it into a bigger situation so don’t try me.

“Sorry but not that sorry for the attitude. I don’t like being ignored because that’s just rude but that’s what you both decided to do so I decided to make it clear now on the kind of person I am and what I will and will not take.

“So as a final reminder: I am getting the top bunk of the bunk bed with the bed on the bottom, I am getting one of the white closes and I’m getting the desk near the window. That’s fair enough to ask considering that I’m giving up fighting for the top bunk.”

The third roommate, identified as Guistinna Tun, wrote back a day later to Ashly saying that her and Winnie were more than willing to compromise on the living situation, but called her out on her sense of entitlement and listed other things that they didn’t appreciate in the seemingly rude email.

A week later, Ashly responded with another email that was less harsh than her first one.

Ashly explained that she liked that Tun stuck up for herself and didn’t mind starting over. She also explained her thoughts behind her initial email.

“I’m also really chill too, But as you can see from my previous email, I am like a ticking time bomb that sets off when things I don’t like happen to me.”

 

It may seem absurd. But everything Ashly expects and demands rings true with what she, and members of her generation, have been taught. The difference between Ashly and many other young people? Ashly was really listening.

What was Ashly, along with most of her peers, taught? That feelings come first and foremost. If you feel something, it’s true. If you want something, then you’re entitled to it, merely because you feel the desire for it. Self-esteem, Ashly’s teachers in grade school and high school told her, means feeling good about herself. She decided this makes sense, obviously. She concluded, based on what her teachers and probably her parents conveyed to her, that in order to feel good about herself, she will have to demand whatever she wants, no matter what the expense or inconvenience to others, merely because she wants it. What about the presumably equal right and need of her roommates to demand exactly the same things, in the same way and for the same reasons? If she can do this to them, can’t they do it to her? It never occurs to Ashly, because it was only her OWN self-esteem she was ever asked to consider, not the need to get along with others, nor respect their equal requirements for self-esteem, private space, private property and so forth. Feelings always trump reason, especially when reason and the rights of others are beside the point.

Ashly may seem like an unreasonable, narcissistic lunatic. And she probably is. But she’s also quite intelligent, only in that she listened carefully to everything her elders taught her, and she took it all to heart. And there it is. If you want to illustrate the concept of “pseudo-self-esteem,” defined as phony self-esteem acquired through subjective feelings rather than honest and rational effort, then Ashly is it. Welcome to campus life 2016, and America’s future.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of Ashlys out there. They might not rule the world, but they certainly rule the Democratic Party and much of the Republican Party. How will these Ashlys pay off the $19 trillion dollar debt, which will probably have ballooned to $500 trillion by the time she’s 40? Who will pay the 90 percent tax rates likely needed by then just to finance the programs we have now? Who will fight and defeat ISIS, or any other mortal threat that comes along to threaten Ashly’s freedom, and who will provide the manpower and weaponry to do so? Certainly not Ashly.

If Ashly votes, for whom do you think Ashly votes? Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton? Or Donald Trump and Gary Johnson? Take a wild guess, but the numbers overwhelmingly suggest she will vote for Sanders and/or Clinton, because these candidates verbalize for all of society what she already claims for herself: unlimited and unearned entitlements without concern for the rights and existence of others.

What does Ashly count on from her soon-to-be roommates? That they walk on eggshells around her. That they surrender any personal need or sense of self that she demands for herself. Ashly’s worse than a hypocrite. She’s a tyrant. And what’s her excuse for the tyranny? The threat of a “ticking time bomb” that will set off if you do not do what she demands. In other words, there’s hell to pay if you cross her.

How is this any different than the politicians who insist, “You’re entitled to what you want. Speak up for yourself and demand what’s yours!” Sanders and Clinton tell people, “You want college? You need college? Then someone else must pay for it. You’re entitled to it!” How is this any different, in principle, from: “I want and need the top bunk bed. It’s mine, and I’m taking it.” Ashly will do just fine in progressive academia, populated by socialists and victimologists, even if she drives her roommates crazy in the process.

Ashly’s viewpoint is ascendant. It’s rising with every passing decade and generation, to the point where all of us know some Ashlys in our professional or personal lives. There have always been Ashlys, in any time or place. But today we elevate the spirit and attitude of those Ashlys to the level of the Oval Office, the most powerful position on the planet thanks to the reputation and efforts of people who were and are nothing like Ashly.

The fatal flaw of an Ashly is she’s counting on the weakness, the misguided kindness or the moral cowardice of those who will not stand up to her, who will never say, “Get the hell out of my face, Ashly. You want to see a ticking time bomb? Watch what happens if you ever pull this on me again.” Now THAT would be considered selfish and narcissistic, not Ashly’s behavior. That’s the twisted, rigged and fundamentally unfair standard of weakness that makes the Ashlys of the world feel so empowered while the rest of us are left paying the price.

If you know an Ashly (male or female version) in your life, then stand up to him or her right now, every day and in every way possible. If you’re a parent, nip those Ashlys in the bud rather than fostering and enabling all this phony self-esteem. Be ten times more fierce and determined than the narcissistic, bratty attitude we’re permitting to take over all of society. Watch Ashly’s pathetic and impotent resolve crumble right before your eyes. She’s no different than the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. Throwing water on the Ashlys of the world is the easiest thing imaginable. You don’t necessarily have to fight. Simply withdraw any and all tolerance, undeserved compassion or unearned fairness of any kind. Leave her to her own devices, completely alone. It will be good for her, and it might even awaken the best within her, i.e., her independence, should there be any to awaken. Don’t be polite or considerate to an Ashly. She exhibits none of those qualities toward you. Don’t turn the other cheek. Treat her like she treats you. She’s toxic and profoundly wrong and unfair. The only thing she has in her favor is your false belief that her scorn and disdain of you matter. Once you realize Ashly’s feelings matter less than anything in the universe, you’re liberated and free for all time. She will dissolve more quickly than you could imagine.

If only more people did what I’m writing here, the world would not be in the mess it is today.

They call the generation that fought and won World War II the Greatest Generation. There was frontier America, the Industrial Revolution, the tragic Civil War, and all the rest. History has known unbelievable challenges that produced amazing people, glorious and admirable triumphs and bursts of human productive, creative energy.

What do we make of a generation dominated and controlled by Ashlys?

Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael  Hurd” (Rehoboth Beach DE). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1

Check out Dr. Hurd’s latest Newsmax Insider column here!

The post UCLA Freshman Ashly: A Case Study in Entitlement appeared first on Michael J. Hurd, Ph.D. | Living Resources Center.

View the full article @ www.DrHurd.com