“My house in the wealthy suburbs of Cherry Hill is predicated on a place like Camden.” I listened to the president of the Center for Environmental Transformation, Mark Dooly, say these words during my Community Action orientation. He explained that most of the local politicians say, “Where should we put the industrial waste plants? Put them in Camden where the people are too poor to protest.” No one wants these things in the suburbs. Camden exists as a slum to support the flourishing of the surrounding exploitative cities. When one brings up these injustices, the common answer is, “Hey, that’s just how capitalism works.”
If Cherry Hill exists at the expense of Camden, at whose expense do the University’s wealthy alumni exist? Whenever I tell people that I go to Princeton they seem to always go on about the great, well-paying job I am going to get after college and the fancy cars and houses I am going to be able to buy. Many students came to Princeton for that very reason — to get a high-paying job. But is this endeavor all that noble? Many opinion columns have argued against solely seeking money after graduation, arguing that you should spend your time doing something more productive or fulfilling. I agree with these past columns, but I’d argue that there’s really an economic argument against seeking high-paying jobs as well.
The income gap in America today is staggering. It has been growing since the 1970s and continues to widen. What’s even more astonishing is that most people have no idea how large the gap is. When asked to plot on a graph the extent of the gap, most people are grossly off the mark. The top 1 percent of Americans owns 35 percent of the country’s wealth. The bottom 90 percent own only 27 percent of the country’s wealth. Today, the richest 400 Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans, or half the entire population of the United States. However, this situation is not unprecedented. A similar separation of wealth existed in 1928. This grossly unequal distribution of wealth heralded the stock market crash and the Great Depression. Similarly, in 2007, the country was hit with the “Great Recession.” And what was similar during these two periods? Leading up to the crash, the wealthy continued to turn toward the flourishing financial structure. This helped create a speculative bubble, a bubble that would eventually burst and send millions of Americans into financial ruins. When Princeton students similarly turn toward the financial structure, they are potentially laying the groundwork for another speculative craze and resulting crash.
By going after high-paying "1 percent" jobs, Princeton students are actually hurting our economy and increasing the vastly unequal distribution of wealth that debilitates the middle class.
“Sure, major in history, you can still get a job on Wall Street after you graduate.” I have heard many people say this to justify the “study what you love” philosophy at Princeton. Some say that’s what makes Princeton great. You can get a degree in classics, but you can still work in New York and make half a million dollars a year after you graduate. But I contend this is not what makes Princeton great. In fact, it’s what makes Princeton and the entire free market capitalist system shameful. The richest Americans can only buy so many products. The richest 400 Americans cannot buy as many cars as the bottom 150 million Americans. And if all of the excess money the rich have is just being reinvested or saved, it cannot be pumped back into the economy. This concentration of wealth actually hurts our economy and destroys its backbone: the middle class.
Princeton students should stop seeing Wall Street and finance jobs as noble and necessary goals because they perpetuate the unequal distribution of wealth that is so harmful to our economy. Many students think that by going to the best university in the nation, they are required to take the highest paying jobs in the nation. With parents paying close to $60,000 a year to send their kids to Princeton, many believe that this investment demands a lucrative career in the financial sector. It’s no wonder the most popular major at the University is economics. It seems most students may not be heeding the “study what you love” mantra and are focusing on economics for a financial payoff after graduation.
There should be a greater emphasis placed on opportunities that are less focused on one’s self interest and personal income. Princeton should give greater support to jobs outside of the financial sector. But if you study what you love, why not find a job that allows you to do what you love and avoid hurting the economy in the process? If you are a history major, search for careers that interest you in that specific field. Do not give up on your passion just to make more money on Wall Street. The money won’t make you happy, and in the process you will help create an immoral separation of wealth that hurts all Americans.
Coy Ozias is a freshman fromChristiansburg, Va. He can be reached atcozias@princeton.edu.
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