I’ll fight for the right, but is it right?

I am sitting here in my bedroom at the fraternity house where I live. It’s Sunday night, with finals just around the corner, and there are some folks at the house drinking beer and listening to loud music. This is, of course, one of my favorite pastimes (provided it’s good beer and good music), but instead I’m working on papers for class. Actually, I’m blogging instead of working on papers for class, but you know, “he without sin” and all of that.

Anyway, the last song blasting through our crappy speakers was the Beastie Boys’ timeless classic “Fight for Your Right” and it got me a-ponderin’. For those of you so culturally naive that you don’t know the lyrics, here’s a sample (no hip-hop pun intended):

You wake up late for school man you don’t wanna go
You ask you mom, “Please?” but she still says, “No!”
You missed two classes and no homework
But your teacher preaches class like you’re some kind of jerk

You gotta fight for your right to party

When played, this mindless song always guarantees some mindless drunks repeating that chorus loud and proud. The Beastie Boys themselves have claimed that the song was a parody of the frat boy party culture (a dubious claim at best), but the interpretation then and now of the song is something akin to an anthem of suburban teens-revolt-against-parents value. These days (nearly 15 [*see below] years after its release), I’d say the teen rebellion appreciation for the song has fallen away to more pseudo-libertarian, “let me do what I want” sentiments. A sort of “We have a right to speak freely and have a speedy trial and F&#@ING PARTY!!!” idea

Or maybe it’s just a catchy song.

But I  believe that lots of people young people hold this view: “I have a right to do with my time, money and body what I want.” It’s hard to disagree. All the recent (and serious) threats to Greek Life, which is an intricate part of the social life here at Vandy, are bumming me out. I feel like going full-on Bluto Blutarsky about it. It’s anarchic and anti-establishment and oh-so-libertarian; in fact, Ayn Rand’s probably looking down from some conception of non-existent heaven and beaming at Mike D and the gang for going political with the party.

But much like Objectivism, the whole idea that it is my right to be able to party is just, in a word, ridiculous. One might argue that no one is actively endorsing a sort of modern Epicureanism like Rand did with her atheistic anarcho-libertarianism, but I’d say that’s patently false. The party sentiment is ingrained in the pop culture, and it has been for a long time. Look at “Rock Around the Clock” from the 1950’s or pretty much any hip hop song these days. Like it or not, it is a philosophy of the mainstream, and the fact that it has intensified and become so universal means it has a lot more staying power than any Ayn Rand book. People mostly move on from objectivism as a guiding philosophy, but are we even aware that we view partying as an entitlement?

Yes, okay, we aren’t thinking about actually marching in the streets to protest our right to party. Yet. French workers threaten to strike over the right to their paid vacation all the time. It’s a pretty ridiculous idea to Americans (except government employees), but leisure is a critical part of the French culture. They have leisurely meals and leisurely walks through gardens and leisurely driving trips through the French countryside. Sure, the organized workers had to fight politically for the mandated vacation, but cultural attitudes shaped those sentiments. You don’t see Japanese workers asking for the same thing.

So would it be that crazy to predict an angry response from our generation in the next few decades should some assault, perceived or otherwise, on “the party”? Aren’t we getting upset over Greek Life on this campus being squashed for the same reasons? The morality of it be damned, this is my right. 

What scares me is that I could be the one leading the charge. For all my pontificating about morals and responsibility, I still get riled up a bit when I perceive a threat to my ability to do drunk and stupid things in college. There’s no principle there, just righteous indignation. How often do I stop to reexamine deeply the nature of my morality, particularly when I’m inundated with cultural references of one general persuasion?

Truth be told, I’ll be pumping my fist and enjoying the good times with the rest of them next time the opportunity arises (in between term papers and Torch articles and any other responsibilities in between). I’m just chilled to the bone at how pervasive culture in on our own conception of morality.

*EDIT: I should have said 25 years, not 15 years. 1986 was of course the glorious year of “Fight for Your Right” from Licensed to Ill.

Tagged as: Ayn Rand, beer, music, philosophy