tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post1596932873965172723..comments2024-03-28T00:02:35.850-05:00Comments on driftglass: The Paper Chasedriftglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09379167083253389153noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-41962416694889706832015-06-04T18:06:42.904-05:002015-06-04T18:06:42.904-05:00This professor is upset that he's a part of th...This professor is upset that he's a part of the system that is encouraging students to act as if their professors are their customer service representatives, and instead of criticizing the system and punching up, he simply punches down. At imaginary hippies, of course. Libruuls, as I like to call them.<br /><br />At this point, unless you're extremely lucky, you need some type of degree or license to break into the middle class, and even a degree or two isn't always enough. JD degrees are only partially valuable, depending on your particular circumstances. Ask me how I know.<br /><br />So, of course students are going to grab and claw at the best grades they can get. At least the intelligent ones. Getting a B on something might drop you out of the top 10% of your class, which might result in $100,000 in student loans becoming simply a very, very bad bet that at least has a low vig.<br /><br />Capitalism is all about getting a bunch of money and power, and then using it to cement yourself at the top.<br /><br />Oligarchy is simply a relatively short phase that comes at the bottom of the Capitalism-Fascism slope. I'd argue that the slope is simply the ability for people to move up or down economically based on intelligence, activity, and luck.<br /><br />The goal of oligarchs is the level plateau at the bottom, which is aristocracy. It's why our oligarchs aren't satisfied with their level of wealth and now want all of the power to boot. If you have all of the money and all of the power, it becomes infinitely easier to write those laws that maintain the status quo.<br /><br />Our current oligarchs see the finish line, and they want to cement themselves as the founding members of their family aristocracies. To me this isn't some radical, deranged notion, but the clear, obvious observable reality all around me (low taxes, "free trade" and "both sides" is what allows this to be possible).<br /><br />You'll know we've finally arrived at the plateau of aristocracy once the estate tax is killed off. If you think wealth inequality is bad now, wait until that happens. 1981-20XX will seem absolutely progressive in comparison. No, really.Cinesiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14996950964848333121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-39917644833281839172015-06-04T14:56:30.401-05:002015-06-04T14:56:30.401-05:00Hey, I'm an adjunct at the University of Calif...Hey, I'm an adjunct at the University of California. We unionized. And we struck in 2003. Things are not great, but they are definitely improved. Our wages are up. We do have somewhat more job security. <br /><br />One of the big problems contingent academics have is that they are either too busy or, more commonly in my experience, too stupid to unionize. <br /><br />Of course, the most comic thing of all is to watch the tenured professors, who are the apex of the academic food chain and most of whom consider themselves to be on the left politically act like complete exploitative asses towards the adjunct faculty. I do hope there is a special place in hell for such hypocrisy. It's crazy--it's not universally true (and not true in my department), but I am perpetually seeing professors striking leftist poses about issues far removed from them personally turning around and doing cruel things to the less empowered employees at the University. I do hope there's a special place in hell...Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05630222099564418320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-53070602754673550582015-06-04T10:39:16.253-05:002015-06-04T10:39:16.253-05:00"The current student-teacher dynamic has been..."The current student-teacher dynamic has been shaped by a large confluence of factors, and perhaps the most important of these is the manner in which cultural studies and social justice writers have comported themselves in popular media."<br /><br />Twitter killed the academia star.<br /><br />It's odd that he assigns the power in the relationship to the student over the system that gives him no protection. It's almost like it's all about his feelings. <br /><br />There is nothing he can do about winner-take-all capitalism and his vulnerable position so he attacks the students, as if this will make his position more secure. They need to change for their own good and for the good of the political process!Susan of Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00076915322771385454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-76552916158631405982015-06-04T10:35:41.074-05:002015-06-04T10:35:41.074-05:00I'm a professor at a midsize state school... ...<i>I'm a professor at a midsize state school.</i>.. and I never thought this would happen to me.....zombie rotten mcdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601960953323752278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-73244697094922366892015-06-04T00:46:04.141-05:002015-06-04T00:46:04.141-05:00I work for an evil global corporation. That's ...I work for an evil global corporation. That's not hyperbole. We buy televisions and other plastic crap made by slaves in China and god knows where else and push it out to stores big and small across the US of A. Buy a new one in two years and throw the old one in a landfill. And we're Fortune 75 or 100, depending on the year, so this is just a pissant division. But we, North America, had a soft Q1, so 100 people got fired in the North America business unit. Three in my office. Last year it was me. Only last year we were way ahead of forecast. It just sounded like fun to some people to...I think they called it Organizational Effectiveness. Anyway, there was an open position and I was friends with the hiring manager, so now I'm an accountant, instead of a financial analyst. Smart play, and lucky. I dodged that bullet like Agent Smith. They fire us in good times and they fire us in bad times. The goal is to fire us all, not that anyone owns up to that. And anyone who is in a position to know the plan is bound by an NDA, which tells you all you need to know. Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05429309964648275918noreply@blogger.com