Why I Should Be A Rockstar

This is not about what a great musician I am. The level of my musicianship has nothing to do with the philosophy behind why I should be a rockstar. The reason I should be a rockstar is because it is one of the only ways to come out "on top" without having to go through the educational system.

An important question to ask is why certain types of people are accorded more respect and importance than others in society. Broadly, I think these people can be divided into two types: those who go through the educational system and, because they are harder-working or genetically endowed with more IQ, manage to make it; and those who do not have to suffer the educational system and all the inequalities it promotes and still make it. Of these two categories, the second is far more respected by the general public than the first: many more people aspire to be sports stars or musicians or actors than to be politicians or CEOs. I think this is because, innately, everyone knows that the system promotes inequalities and that, in every case, there is someone who is smarter or more hard-working than you, who, by following the educational system, will inevitably do better in life than you will.

It would be naive to assume that being a rockstar would help one escape these inequalities. One's success as a rockstar would, for a large part, depend on how creative one is and how good a musician one is. The world of rockstars and sportspeople is based on its own, alternative, set of inequalities. However, these inequalities are preferable to the inequalities that the educational system is based on, if only because they provide alternatives to the traits that the "mainstream" world values.

The educational system is forced upon everyone. Regardless of one's aptitude for mathematics, one must study mathematics, at least till the beginning of high school. This is not only unfair because it is imposed on a student, but also because it highlights only one set of inequalities and not others. It would be far more just, albeit very optimistic, to allow each person to do what they want and to let them succeed in it. Each person should be able to carve out their own niche and do what they are good at.

My thoughts on this matter are not every developed at all. I found it quite an odd coincidence that we had to read the Chomsky article for class just as I was thinking all these things that he touches upon. Anyway, I've decided that my niche is rockstardom.