I agree that staying mum is a losing strategy for unis and colleges. But they're probably expecting to see some resistance from other sectors, like members of the opposition party (or any remaining not-quite-Nazi Republican members) among our elected officials, and they not seeing much of that. It all creates a mutual "say nothing" strategy that can only lead to more and more intense fascist oppression. The only hopeful sector I'm seeing is the courts, but their enforcement power isn't what we would like it to be in such difficult times.
As a Prof and grad of Johns Hopkins, I can say this is shocking to me. I thought we were too harmless to attack.
My advice to kids though is consider the many good options: small colleges that don't depend on federal grants the way big universities and the Ivies do, or college abroad which is often cheaper than in the U.S. Look into colleges with 2000-3000 students and into colleges in Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. You'll get a better education than at any Ivy and have a blast.
I'm sure you're right about the Ivies. They do have great resources and often excellent faculty, but many smaller schools have excellent faculties and pretty good resources, too. But my suspicion is that if you have a fascist regime in power, eventually they'll come for any and all sized institutions of higher ed. They want the chill to descend everywhere.
As a product of the 60s, I hope a few schools will be progressive thought leaders. In my day it was Antioch, Oberlin, Beloit, Wesleyan. We were called hippies, radicals, and counterculture.
That would be good. But I think the trouble is that the humanities have lost most of their impact. Many students don’t want to major in English or philosophy anymore. They might dabble in these disciplines because they see that there are good things to learn in them and from them, but they also know “humanistic inquiry” isn’t where the money is once you graduate, though I think it can prove valuable if you want to go into, say, law. And the colleges and universities can’t accommodate even the pitiful amount of English & similar PhD-holders who would like to teach.
When the nazis ordered that all Jewish academics be fired, there was nary a whimper from either the colleagues of the Jewish professors or the universities. The lack of any solidarity was shocking to those who were expelled, but looking around today, not clear the zeitgeist is any different. And hello Wilkie Farr and Gallagher, down there on your knees!
I was just checking out Snyder’s book “On Tyranny” for a patron, and we were both pretty excited that he was moving here, although also sick to our stomachs about the reason he has to do it.
So much for his "don't obey in advance". Ok, he waited a couple months and found a job in Canada. The rest of us are supposed to just buy his books and hope for the best while they mow us down at protests.
"no one wants to be the first Indian out of the woods". This would likely be a reference to Native American Indians ... and the fact that the colonialists fought with guns before the locals had them. Resulting in a very bad time if you were the first foe to step out of cover.
As with so many changes that seem abrupt and sudden, they've actually already happened long ago and we hadn't had our "Minsky Moment," or "Wile E. Coyote Moment" until just now.
When higher education sold out to big business in the mid-1970s, this was baked into the cake. I grew up in an academic household and watched it take hold. The conversion of education into a product to be sold; of students into customers; of faculty into professional elites or underpaid service workers. The adoption of squadrons of executives, with their perqs and assistants and level of pay. The elevation of Finance above all other considerations.
That was set in stone by the early '80s, and everything since then has just been denouement. Especially this, where billionaire donors working with corporate managers and the influence of fascist/racist informants.
The money is the vulnerability.
For decades now, you'll find the most intellectual freedom at community colleges, and among adjunct professors who qualify for food stamps.
Yes. There was talk of resisting the "gig economy" for a while, but that didn't happen. One author I read a while back points out that when colleges finally did give in, they REALLY gave in. They have become poster children for the very brand of economics that they claimed they would resist, and the result is lower-quality education. Which, of course, makes the anti-American Right Wing very happy. They despise education. Anybody who isn't stupid and/or corrupt is anathema to them.
Higher Ed can't resist "the gig economy." They're completely dependent on it. It's easy for a student at a major 4-year university to never take a class from anyone who earns more than they do, if they work at a coffeeshop. To never meet an actual tenured professor.
Heck, a brother of mine went to the University of Minnesota from freshman year until he graduated with his DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), so almost 10 years; and only in his final courses at Vet school did he ever take a course from actual faculty. He took his hard science classes from adjuncts who didn't speak English; that wasn't easy, taking Organic Chem from people from China, basically on Work-Study, who relied on their friends in the class to translate.
The profs who bring in corporate research dollars actually get paid.
A brother of mine is the director of research grants at a midwestern University most people don't think of that does a shocking amount of military research. The confluence of money between the Pentagon, corporate interests, and extremely murky funds he has been explicitly directed to not look into is...interesting. He got the job when his predecessor couldn't restrain herself from looking into that confluence, in fact. And until he made it clear to everyone he wasn't going to look; he had some weird incidents that showed him he was being watched. Now they leave him alone.
That's where the money is that keeps that university open. The adjuncts earning less than they would at Starbucks is key to the process, also.
A sister of mine taught classes at Southern New Hampshire University, the online for-profit; for $3,000 per class. $9,000 per semester. Had she maxed out what they'd have hired her for, she wouldn't have been able to earn $40,000/yr.
Yep. I used to work at a mid-size university library. All the administration cares about is their bottom line. There was never any chance of organized pushback by universities. Some good professors here and there will speak out, but they'll quickly lose their jobs.
That's most of my family, or was. Most of us have gotten out by now. My youngest sister and her husband, who are poly sci profs at a Big Ten University; they still seem to believe in the almost monastic devotional mythology. Or at least they put on a good face. They'd best get real in a hurry, IMHO.
Only because they allow it.
I agree that staying mum is a losing strategy for unis and colleges. But they're probably expecting to see some resistance from other sectors, like members of the opposition party (or any remaining not-quite-Nazi Republican members) among our elected officials, and they not seeing much of that. It all creates a mutual "say nothing" strategy that can only lead to more and more intense fascist oppression. The only hopeful sector I'm seeing is the courts, but their enforcement power isn't what we would like it to be in such difficult times.
As a Prof and grad of Johns Hopkins, I can say this is shocking to me. I thought we were too harmless to attack.
My advice to kids though is consider the many good options: small colleges that don't depend on federal grants the way big universities and the Ivies do, or college abroad which is often cheaper than in the U.S. Look into colleges with 2000-3000 students and into colleges in Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. You'll get a better education than at any Ivy and have a blast.
I'm sure you're right about the Ivies. They do have great resources and often excellent faculty, but many smaller schools have excellent faculties and pretty good resources, too. But my suspicion is that if you have a fascist regime in power, eventually they'll come for any and all sized institutions of higher ed. They want the chill to descend everywhere.
As a product of the 60s, I hope a few schools will be progressive thought leaders. In my day it was Antioch, Oberlin, Beloit, Wesleyan. We were called hippies, radicals, and counterculture.
That would be good. But I think the trouble is that the humanities have lost most of their impact. Many students don’t want to major in English or philosophy anymore. They might dabble in these disciplines because they see that there are good things to learn in them and from them, but they also know “humanistic inquiry” isn’t where the money is once you graduate, though I think it can prove valuable if you want to go into, say, law. And the colleges and universities can’t accommodate even the pitiful amount of English & similar PhD-holders who would like to teach.
If this were in Greek Universities the riots would be massive and several universities would declare themselves independent.
Good show...
𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢
𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/susan-crawford-wisconsin-supreme-court-elon-musk-b2725710.html
But how long can the irresponsibility of the voters be allowed to stand?
/s
I don't even have hope that my alma mater UC Berkeley won't cave. Afterall, they still employ John Yoo.
Ta, Marcie. I remember Columbia from the late 60s, when the protestors timed getting filmed for the 6 o'clock local news. Sigh.
So Mr. "Don't obey in advance" is leaving. Ok.
It's more profitable than obeying.
So sue me.
When the nazis ordered that all Jewish academics be fired, there was nary a whimper from either the colleagues of the Jewish professors or the universities. The lack of any solidarity was shocking to those who were expelled, but looking around today, not clear the zeitgeist is any different. And hello Wilkie Farr and Gallagher, down there on your knees!
"The antisemitism thing is a canard, of course." O rly? https://president.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Announcements/Report-2-Task-Force-on-Antisemitism.pdf
Add to the list of lickspittles the University of Southern California. They were written out of my will before, but they're not getting back in now.
Incidentally, the same school that had Orenthal James Simpson as a famous football player.
I was just checking out Snyder’s book “On Tyranny” for a patron, and we were both pretty excited that he was moving here, although also sick to our stomachs about the reason he has to do it.
So much for his "don't obey in advance". Ok, he waited a couple months and found a job in Canada. The rest of us are supposed to just buy his books and hope for the best while they mow us down at protests.
Sorry, he lost me.
Getting out of the country isn't that expensive, ask asylum. Every second you pay taxes in a fascist country you are supporting a fascist regime.
Oh, why's that?
JK LOL, is having the country next door collapse into a totalitarian kleptocracy bad?
"no one wants to be the first Indian out of the woods". This would likely be a reference to Native American Indians ... and the fact that the colonialists fought with guns before the locals had them. Resulting in a very bad time if you were the first foe to step out of cover.
Attacking intellectuals and universities?
Why, it's a Cultural Revolution!
"Smash the four year olds," comrades!
"Tin soldiers and TrumpMusk comin'..."
As with so many changes that seem abrupt and sudden, they've actually already happened long ago and we hadn't had our "Minsky Moment," or "Wile E. Coyote Moment" until just now.
When higher education sold out to big business in the mid-1970s, this was baked into the cake. I grew up in an academic household and watched it take hold. The conversion of education into a product to be sold; of students into customers; of faculty into professional elites or underpaid service workers. The adoption of squadrons of executives, with their perqs and assistants and level of pay. The elevation of Finance above all other considerations.
That was set in stone by the early '80s, and everything since then has just been denouement. Especially this, where billionaire donors working with corporate managers and the influence of fascist/racist informants.
The money is the vulnerability.
For decades now, you'll find the most intellectual freedom at community colleges, and among adjunct professors who qualify for food stamps.
Yes. There was talk of resisting the "gig economy" for a while, but that didn't happen. One author I read a while back points out that when colleges finally did give in, they REALLY gave in. They have become poster children for the very brand of economics that they claimed they would resist, and the result is lower-quality education. Which, of course, makes the anti-American Right Wing very happy. They despise education. Anybody who isn't stupid and/or corrupt is anathema to them.
Higher Ed can't resist "the gig economy." They're completely dependent on it. It's easy for a student at a major 4-year university to never take a class from anyone who earns more than they do, if they work at a coffeeshop. To never meet an actual tenured professor.
Heck, a brother of mine went to the University of Minnesota from freshman year until he graduated with his DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), so almost 10 years; and only in his final courses at Vet school did he ever take a course from actual faculty. He took his hard science classes from adjuncts who didn't speak English; that wasn't easy, taking Organic Chem from people from China, basically on Work-Study, who relied on their friends in the class to translate.
The profs who bring in corporate research dollars actually get paid.
A brother of mine is the director of research grants at a midwestern University most people don't think of that does a shocking amount of military research. The confluence of money between the Pentagon, corporate interests, and extremely murky funds he has been explicitly directed to not look into is...interesting. He got the job when his predecessor couldn't restrain herself from looking into that confluence, in fact. And until he made it clear to everyone he wasn't going to look; he had some weird incidents that showed him he was being watched. Now they leave him alone.
That's where the money is that keeps that university open. The adjuncts earning less than they would at Starbucks is key to the process, also.
A sister of mine taught classes at Southern New Hampshire University, the online for-profit; for $3,000 per class. $9,000 per semester. Had she maxed out what they'd have hired her for, she wouldn't have been able to earn $40,000/yr.
"It's about the money. Its ALWAYS about the money"
Yep. I used to work at a mid-size university library. All the administration cares about is their bottom line. There was never any chance of organized pushback by universities. Some good professors here and there will speak out, but they'll quickly lose their jobs.
That's most of my family, or was. Most of us have gotten out by now. My youngest sister and her husband, who are poly sci profs at a Big Ten University; they still seem to believe in the almost monastic devotional mythology. Or at least they put on a good face. They'd best get real in a hurry, IMHO.