#letterstotheinternet

[katesattic]

So @letterstotheinternet has this idea. Since some of the fanders have noticed Thomas has been feeling down lately. So let's try to cheer him up. Write some some nice messages for him, draw him some nice art (doesn't have to be of him), share some pictures and tag them as "#cheerupthomas" or "#cheer up thomas". Let's do this! Spread the fanders love. Pass it on.

[letterstotheinternet-blog1]

Dear internet, Amazon is going to die.

This is my personal opinion, so read on if you want to. 

I think the best way to describe Amazon right now is to say that it’s a whale. It’s already killed several business and is on the way to bankrupting entire industries. Of all places, Macy's is downsizing and closing hundreds of its stores. 

The Amazon streak is going to reach the end of the cliff and stoop so low. 

Think about it this way: what do you call a company that’s taking over several industries, and either buying out its competitors or putting them out of business? A monopoly.

Amazon is going to have some pretty major restrictions set on it. It can’t dominate movies, groceries, clothing, tech, and the hundreds of other industries that it already has stake in. While Amazon may only be a hub for all of these industries to sell their products, it’s quickly killing the 10 million+ retail jobs out there, which would in turn lead to a rise in unemployment.

And I’m sure that sooner rather than later, multiple businesses and industries are going to be fighting Amazon and filing lawsuits against them, but it’s not out of love for their employees, or to battle unemployment. Rather, businesses will battle Amazon because Amazon is threatening their industries. Businesses want to make money, and they can’t do that if Amazon is gobbling up everything in its way. Businesses will pressure the government to pull the monopoly card on Amazon and restrict what it can and can’t do. 

So, Jeff Bezos, as much as you look like a badass who can take anyone on, you’re going to want to invest in good lawyers. 

Count your blessings,

-aj

[letterstotheinternet-blog1]

Dear internet, colleges lie.

Do any of you realize how big of a lie colleges are?

It was about two years ago in my sophomore year of high school that I started receiving ads for colleges. There was this really fancy looking lodger that came from a prestigious college “inviting” me to attend their six- to eight-week summer program. Of course, being the naive little immigrant that I was, I totally expected this was a legit thing that the college sent me because it was all fancy and was printed on card stock and everything. I showed it to my mom, who glanced at it and told me that the college was trying to suck a few grand out of me.

And being the dumb teenager that I was, I didn’t listen to her. Listen to your mother’s advice, kiddos (unless it’s shit).

The next day, I happened to have a cleaning at the dentist, who, for that day, was someone that we knew, and was an acquaintance/friend (he’s one of those in-between people). Even though his parents were immigrants, he grew up in the states, so he knew the system here much better than we did. When I told him about the letter, he was shocked and basically confirmed what my mother said. If colleges want you that badly, they won’t let you pay extra.

That’s not the only thing colleges lie about. Even their statistics are bullshit. Here’s how:

Say you have 100 rising college freshmen admitted to X University. Of those 100, about 50 will drop out of school for whatever reason they have, which narrows us down to a class of 50 students, and say that all 50 of them graduate. In the college brochure, they would say something like: ‘we have a 100% graduation rate.’ In reality, it’s 100% of the 50 students, which is really only half of what the freshman class started out with. 

Now, of those 50, say 45 students will find a job within the first six months after graduation. Colleges use that number in their statistics: ‘90% of our graduates find a job within the first six months.’ Well, guess what? Again, that’s kind of a lie. In reality, maybe only one person out of the 45 will find a job whose salary matches the level of their degree. Most will have part-time (and possibly full-time) jobs that have nothing to do with their degree. 

It’s like when techies check out phone specs online. They may look salivating with 6gb of RAM and 16gb of storage, but when it comes to performance, it sucks. 

In America, colleges are the same way. About half of the colleges and universities listed on the ‘Top 100 Universities in the World’ are American (which I have a whole other rant about), and yet, the average American is working a shitty job that has nothing to do with their degree in order to pay rent and barely scrape by. That’s why your Wal-Mart cashier has a bachelor’s in psychology and is stuck bagging groceries for $10/hr. In theory, college is great, but the application is terrible. 

Fix your fucking system, America.

Count you blessings,

-aj