Over the past two years I’ve learned a lot, and it has been an immense privilege to be able to share my opinion with all of you once a week. I had my first opinion piece published in a newspaper when I was thirteen, and since then it has always been a thrill to see my writing in print, but also somewhat terrifying!
Every week I was pressed to come up with a piece of which I was proud, both stylistically and thematically. While there is certainly no shortage of topics, the difficult part is no doubt finding something original to say and doing so in less than 650 words.
I have enjoyed a wide readership and was admittedly somewhat shocked that strangers recognized me around town. I was also very humbled to have a dedicated group of followers who seldom failed to leave anonymous comments weekly. It is heartening to know my opinions reached and mattered to those who might not have ever considered the world in a new light!
Beyond that, readers must bear in mind that what ends up in print after I submit it reflects a whole other set of editorial judgments, many of which are counter to what I wanted in my pieces. As a professor once told me, if somebody publishes your work, they use your “words” to convey their opinion.
In my columns I have dealt with two main themes, which did overlap somewhat: our unfortunate American, post-modern status quo and the righteousness of any and every linguistic output.
In my view of politics, the “game” in the U.S. (and the world) is rigged and systematically favors some, while disenfranchising and crushing others. Granted, in our climate of political insanity and hysteria, amplified by our state-serving media, ignorance prevails and the rat race continues, the masses spinning in hamster wheels with the duplicitous promise of capital looming somewhere beyond.
What is most interesting to me is the widespread sentiment that politics and politicians are inherently wicked, but government itself is somehow naturally good and necessary. May we all pick up the hammer of which Nietzsche wrote and philosophize with it, discarding absurd superstition and bad faith and replacing it with knowledge garnered from truth.
Within linguistics, my view is that the “value” of various forms of language has everything to do with the power and prestige of a speaker and very little to do with the actual sounds themselves. The liberation of marginalized groups, such as blacks, latinos, queers and women, will come hand in hand with respect of their linguistic output and the disposal of the notion of a “standard English” by which to subjugate and scorn.
I bear an immense gratitude to all those I met in Gainesville, especially the stellar professors of the Linguistics department and the other graduate students who have been great and inspirational friends and of whom I’m very proud.
As well, all the friends I made in Gainesville have been gems that made an already weird place all the more eccentric and marvelous. Love y’all.
As a final farewell, I wish to exhort all those reading to do at least one of the following: vote (or don’t) per your conscience, question the “unquestionable,” mock the powerful, scorn the mighty, lift up the downtrodden, defend the dignity of every living being, protect our planet, drink Cuban rum, eat Ethiopian food, go to Zanzibar, learn a different language, reconcile with an enemy, take a walk in the Bed and Breakfast district and tell those you love why you love them.
I’m going to miss the heck out of Gainesville and its wonderful denizens, but know you’re destined for greatness, in whatever form it will take. So, as my final exhortation to the Gator nation, y’all keep on keeping on!
Jordan MacKenzie is a graduating UF linguistics master’s student.
