Arrogant Hate Mail from the Ivory Tower

I got this e-mail from a disgruntled professor in California who is upset at the fact that we’re producing Miss Asian Oregon.  I usually don’t post angry hate mail, but this one really got on my nerves because I really don’t get it–why do some professors, whose tenure protects them from the hills and valleys of the economy, take such an antagonistic view against the private sector?  These people are teaching our future leaders.  They feel soooo high and mighty because they get a guaranteed paycheck, and they take that arrogance and throw accusations against the rest of us who are trying to pay the mortgage and put food on the table for our kids.  It baffles me.

Keep in mind that there is no economic benefit for me personally in all this, at least none that I see so far.  I slave away on this site, on Miss Asian Oregon, and on Thymos, and the economic benefit has been…well…let’s just say that there are FAR more lucrative ways to spend time.  But even if there were economic benefit…why is prosperity bad?  Especially if it helps people develop their careers or change the image of Asian American women?

The truth is that our economy hasn’t been this bad since the 1930’s.  I know friends who have been unemployed for over a year.  A blogosphere friend (MinorityMilitant) now has two unemployed parents, both of whom were working class people employed by private industry.  To think that there are holier-than-thou professors using their bully pulpit to futher bully people who are down and out is…simply shocking to me.

Professor, if you’re reading this, I think you owe me an apology.  I think you owe America an apology.  With our state unemployment rate of 12.2% and our national unemployment rate approaching 10%, the last thing we need is arrogant professors in ivory towers pointing fingers and laughing at the rest of America in our struggles to lift our “sagging” economy. 

Read this arrogant guy’s email and my response below. 

Greetings,

I had been informed of your Miss Asian Oregon contest.    I am amazed and dismayed that a contest like this still exists.  I would feel less outraged if the contest was the fading remnants of an older generation’s past traditions, which are slowly and properly fading away.

I will keep this short.  From the information about the Miss Asian Oregon contest, the organizers and occupations are mentioned several times.

In my opinion, this whole event appears to be a cheap and desperate attempt at free advertising for the co-organizers, both of whom are employed in sagging industries.  Will you be checking the Oregon’s registered sex offenders public website on the background of any volunteers,  sponsors or organizers?  I hope that this event is cancelled due to its irrelevance.

Very sincerely,

ArrogantProfessor
Asian American Studies Department
Some California University

Dear ArrogantProfessor,

You wrote:

“In my opinion, this whole event appears to be a cheap and desperate attempt at free advertising for the co-organizers, both of whom are employed in sagging industries.  Will you be checking the Oregon’s registered sex offenders public website on the background of any volunteers,  sponsors or organizers?  I hope that this event is cancelled due to its irrelevance.”

I have three points I’d like to make–the first two in passing, and the third in detail.

First, whether or not we’re advertising, it’s not cheap, and it’s certainly not free.  M and I have put lots of money into this event.  We’re doing it because we believe in providing a platform for young Asian American women to have their voices heard.  Second, there is no advertising benefit in this for either myself or M.  At least none that I know of, but since you obviously think you know more about my business than I do, ArrogantProfessor, maybe you can show me a connection between pageants and mortgages that will make me rich.  Seriously, if you know any people who would watch our pageant and say, “What a great speech on sustainability!  I feel like buying a house.  Byron, lock me in at a low rate!” I’d like you to send that person my way.

The third point is something you should think very hard about, ArrogantProfessor, while you sit in your high and mighty Ivory tower collecting your guaranteed paycheck.  You said that we’re in sagging industries, and you use disparaging words like “desperate” and “cheap.”  M’s business is not sagging at all.  She couldn’t care less what you think of this pageant or her as a person.  She’s a great lawyer, her services are in high demand, and her reputation for strong professionalism is well known.

I’m in the mortgage business, on the other hand, and there is no denying that the mortgage business is shaky.  My company itself is not “desperate.”  We’ve been the largest by volume privately owned mortgage company in Oregon for at least the past four years because of our unrivaled reputation for good business, and we’re the most solid mortgage company in the state today. That being said, it’s well known that we shut down our wholesale division and laid off a whole bunch of people last year in the ongoing mortgage crisis that is plaguing the nation.  Our owners had to make this difficult decision because of the shaky economy and our “sagging” industry.  I saw many of my competitors go out of business.  I had the hard and unenviable experience of seeing former coworkers crying because they were laid off and didn’t know where to go, coworkers with kids in colleges like yours.  We happen to live in a state where the unemployment rate is 12.2%, and there are people desperate for work.  Everyday when I drive on to the highway, I see people begging for money.  There are so many talented people out there, and there is not enough work for them.

I’m glad, ArrogantProfessor, that you get paid by your university with no worries about job security.  I’m glad that you don’t have to worry about getting downsized, and that you have the privilege of gloating at the rest of us whose jobs are less secure than those of tenured professors.  However, I think it’s hypocritical of you to take this condescending tone with business people given the fact that your university is supported by business people from the private sector like C***** D**** and O*** K*****, and I also think you’re setting a terrible example for your students, who ought to be taking leadership roles and developing the entrepreneurial desire to create businesses and jobs.  You’re biting the hand that feeds you and defecating on the kids of people who pay tuition at your school.  But whatever floats your boat.  I’m happy that you can close your eyes to the reality of what ordinary Americans are struggling with today.

As for me, I hope there’s some economic incentive in Miss Asian Oregon for people.  If our pageant succeeds in inspiring people to become something better, or if it brings businesspeople together so that they can find solutions to help bring Oregon out of this financial crisis, or if our court helps businesses develop by showing how the Asian American community supports local businesses, or if the pageant helps one young woman create an outstanding career, I’m all for it.  I’m pro-business, pro-jobs, and pro-prosperity.  I’m not going to create an anti-business fervor within this organization, especially since our state and communities desperately need new jobs and new companies to provide these jobs.  We need people to lead.  We need Miss Asian Oregon.

So in closing, I hope you’ll go buy yourself a nice, expensive steak with your guaranteed paycheck, and I hope you have a good laugh as houses go on auction and America burns.  Just remember that there are real people trying to make a difference in society.  We’re the ones pushing society forward.

Sincerely,
Byron Wong