What’s it like to be a man in “The Next Great Generation” — the Millenials? Mike Kujak answers a few questions for a glimpse into that world.
1. What book has most impacted who you are today? How or why? I’m going to have to cheat and mention two. The two books that have impacted me the most today are A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. After reading both books, their ideas completely consumed me. Today, I have certain problems with both. That said, they had a significant influence on how I see the world. I think they both introduced me to a kind of healthy skepticism that is very common in our generation.
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2. If you unexpectedly received $100 today, what would you spend it on? I’d be $100 closer to being able to afford a Mac Book Pro.
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3. What five things can you not live without? 1. Google Reader: I’m a news junkie and I love tweaking my subscriptions and adding more RSS feeds. 2. Caribou Coffee: The wind beneath my wings. 3. My iPhone: I’m addicted to constantly being connected. It’s a problem… 4. Chinese Food: The food of the gods. 5. Movie Theaters: I’m a huge film nerd who will watch a movie anywhere, but going to the theater is just one of my favorite things to do.
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4. What are you most thankful to your parents/guardians for? Mom: Being absolutely supportive of letting me pursue a career I enjoy. Dad: Reminding me to find a way to stay in touch with nature, despite all my city-boy capitalist habits.
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5. What’s your favorite website/blog, and why is it so dang awesome? 1. Favorite Website: A.V. Club. Hands down the best place for anything related to arts or entertainment. 2. Favorite Blog: Glen Greenwald @ Salon.com. I’ve spent years looking for voices that speak to me and his stands out above all the rest. He’s a political mastermind and I hope everyone checks out his site.
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6. What’s the most “scandalous” thing you’ve ever done, that you’re willing to admit to the public? Everyone answers this with some variation of “I’m so lame/I don’t know” so I’ll try to dig deep on this one because I’m kind of a Goody Two Shoes.
The most scandalous thing I can remember (that I’m willing to admit to the entire world, including possible future employers) is losing a game of fooseball and having to run naked for about 200 yards.
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7. What have you done so far in life that you’re most proud of? Attending UW-Madison fills me with a lot of pride. I really respect the school, I love my Badgers and I’m just grateful as hell that I get to be a part of this culture.
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8. What’s the number one thing on your bucket list? Changing society for the better through my writing.
I’ve got a long road ahead of me, but I’m getting closer and closer to my goal of becoming a reporter. It’s shitty pay but there’s a small chance that I might actually end up helping my country more than hurting it before time runs out.
Number two on the list would have to be marrying a sugar-mamma. I need someone to support my writing habits…
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9. What’s the number one issue you wish your peers would pay more attention to, or care more about? There’re many issues I could suggest, but I think there’s a common ancestor to a larger portion of today’s problems. I really wish my peers would pay more attention to the broken two party system. Voting for the blue team or the red team isn’t going to cut it anymore. You can’t fix a situation if your tools are broken. Some of the most crippling issues of our time (foreign policy, financial reform, education reform and campaign finance reform) aren’t going to be fixed by either of the two parties. We have to stop “Lesser of the two-evils” voting. The 2012 election is approaching and I urge people to keep an eye out for independents and third party candidates.
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10. What should older generations realize about our generation? I don’t necessarily think we’re a misunderstood generation. That said, older generations may not understand our relationship with technology. I think we come off as a very self-obsessed generation, constantly using social networks to update the world on our banal activities. I think we are a bit into ourselves, but also I think everyone is when they’re young and it just hasn’t been documented to the extent that it is being today. We’re going to grow up. We’re going to start families. We have a special breed of optimism that I think is going to do some really big things in the later stages of our lives.
