:geordi-no: Wumao
:geordi-yes: 50k in debt to do free propaganda for the USA club
I'm very glad I never once took a single history or political science course in university.
I'm doing a double bachelor's in History and PoliSci rn :thonk-cri:
PoliSci department is actually pretty good / balanced about issues like this but History profs are :scared-fash:
Luckily students tend to be far better and more bearable than the ancient lecturers, that helps
See this is why I am terrified to take classes on stuff I care about. I can't put up with that shit, and know I will snap partway through
Interesting. Well at least you're there and can push back against obvious bullshit when possible. I feel like if it was me I'd be screaming about the CIA every lecture.
PoliSci department is actually pretty good / balanced about issues like this but History profs are
It really varies by program unfortunately, but most arent great
I had to take a basic govt in college and it was incoherent af. The guy teaching was awful at hiding his conservative bias and basically explained everything in the most baby brained conservative way possible.
We also did some political compass level shit about political ideologies in America, I can’t remember exactly how it was described, i think fiscal and social liberal on side and conservative of those on the other. Basically the quadrants were liberal, conservative, populist (as a ideology unto itself), and some other one I can’t remember maybe/probably libertarianism?
It was full of :brainworms:
Awful. I wish the political compass could be erased from the American psyche. The best way to describe the ideology of most Americans is "selfish and incoherent"
I had a course like that in college where early on the professor outlined that there are 5 political ideologies in America: liberals, conservatives, libertarians (she added Objectivists next to it), "technologists", and Muslims.
It was completely idiosyncratic to her and weird as shit. I got an A in the course so whatever.
Lol is technologist a technocrat?
Also lmfao at the political ideology Muslim. This sounds like a sketch or something.
She essentially described someone like who Elon Musk believes himself to be, except Musk wasn't a cultural figure back then, so she said that Ray Kurzweil guy. She meant something like what's normally called a transhumanist, like someone with a transcendent belief in technology to solve political issued by making us into cyborgs.
I tried asking her once if transhumanists comprised a meaningfully large political influence in America and she responded "At least as much as Christians"
the gall to identify islam as a distinct, monolithic political identity but remain completely oblivious to the christian theocrats that constitute an actual organized political bloc in america
She got asked about that a few times and would claim Christians could be any of the 4 other ideologies on top of being a Christian, but Muslims are their own thing. It's stunning that chuds believe public universities are some kind of lockstep Marxist indoctrination camp when she was one of the 5 polisci professors at my school.
I've taken a few for easy As. A PolySci teacher I had literally taught "socialism is when the government does stuff, communism is when the government does a whole lot of stuff" in a lecture.
That's an interesting scenario I would not have considered. I would never want to teach, but I think if I did, I would try to always remain calm and neutral. And I think I would have to approach all criticism as good faith, even if it's not. Channeling my inner Garrison, you can't just back up a dump truck labeled "Marxism" and dump all over 18 year olds heads. You need to carefully try to get people to see a different perspective one issue at a time and show how they're connected. You can't make people feel stupid, that's not effective.
politics courses just teach you the establishment way of thinking
My African History teacher was pretty damn cool. Helped that he was from east Africa and was willing to call the global north out on their shenanigans.
Pretty much every ukrainian I've talked to since this shit started was like "Don't believe your government and your TV! We're dying here!". I know it's a very petty to get mad at, especially considering it sometimes comes from people who are under literal airstrikes, but man, do you really think we're that blind and stupid? Like I'm enjoying eating Putin's slop and don't have Internet access. Well, at least, I have Internet access FOR NOW.
considering a lot of people are buying the "Ukraine is actually unassailable and all the people are slaughtering Russians by the dozens" idea the propaganda wants to push, it makes sense to push the idea that the Ukrainian people actually are just suffering horribly and we should push for a fast end to the war. Of course, that might not be what they're saying to you.
Russia has to seem both strong and prone to collapse at any moment, resulting in a narrative that Ukraine is both winning and losing simultaneously
The reality of an imminent Russian victory and widespread suffering of Ukrainian civilians aren't as easily conveyed I guess
Yesterday my class had a guest lecture about Qanon and social media. She said that in order to stop the threat we should have people who believe in Q do mindfulness exercises
My soc professor literally said reeducation is the only way for Q people and a lot of the kids agreed with him so not all is lost
Did you ask if she was giving away pieces of her brain as souvenirs? That'd be like owning a meteorite.
What kind of a bird course has 20 minutes per lecture to spare? I have to go at a quick pace and still cut at least 2 weeks of content from the very optimistic syllabus my department expects even for easier courses lol 🙃
My professor has mentioned russia or the ussr in every single lecture we've had this semester. Also he sucks at teaching
the university system in the US has rampant competition and in-fighting between disciplines over resources, resulting in people studying, research, or otherwise housed within a given discipline believing other disciplines are trash, by default.
this dysfunction results in a defacto lack of interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving and a general trend towards pressuring students into overspecialization. The Academy, for all its flaws and bullshit, does still have mechanisms for getting 4 year degree holders to finish with a basic mix of practical and classical education underlying their chosen field. there is merit to this, but all the gatekeepers within the academy are hyperspecialized themselves and don't really work towards interdisciplinary education so much as they advocate only for their discipline as the most important of a broad education.
besides the hyperspecialization problem standing in the way of institutional reform, there's another serious problem: some disciplines are captured by trash. 99% of the time, a bachelor's degree in PoliSci, Econ, or Finance from an R1 school is only going to mean the credential holder has been exposed to and successfully regurgitated, hardcore hegemonic discourses. and therefore, probably one of the more familiar types of swollen asshole we've all met. from there, it's not hard to crap on other disciplines that make up the scaffolding, like communications/marketing. and STEMlords are never far from the brainworm nexus, with the ostensibly apolitical, but broadly conservative dumpster juice they swim in every day while imagining that doing long division in code for a rich boss is a critical thinking skill.
that said, i believe (within reasonable limits) you get out of education what you put into it. not like money and time, exactly, but how earnestly you approach unfamiliar ideas and knowledge. can you sift through shit coming out of an asshole to find something of value? will you do only what's required or will you investigate beyond the topics of the classroom for your own edification? are you going to take advantage of your temporary institutional affiliation to travel and explore other cultures/communities? because The Academy opens up a shitload of doors that are not advertised and sometimes cleverly hidden behind lazy bureaucracy.
finally, the leveraging of future earnings / financial hardship inflicted on working class young people is insidious and in a just society, it would not exist. but in a society looking to limit the imagination of its masses, it is a great strategy. if you haven't read graeber's Debt: The First 5000 Years, one of the things i took from it is that there are different kinds of debt, just as there are different kinds of representations of value. the modern bailiffs can repossess your car, your house, and even your toothbrush. they can't take your educational/experiential growth, your connections, or your academic credentials. they go with you everywhere you go. in the worst case scenario, as the US declines, other less absurd places will take advantage of brain drain.
for some chuckles, read about these kings: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/25/they-fled-the-country-to-escape-their-student-debt.html
this dysfunction results in a defacto lack of interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving and a general trend towards pressuring students into overspecialization
...
STEMlords are never far from the brainworm nexus, with the ostensibly apolitical, but broadly conservative dumpster juice they swim in every day while imagining that doing long division in code for a rich boss is a critical thinking skill.
I've noticed this. When I majored in Comp Sci there were a lot of STEM supremacists constantly saying "Humanities is trash; humanities is usless; humanities is for mouth-breathers" as though science were this entirely neutral institution by virtue of its empirical methodology, completely immune to outside influences such as dark money. As though science were not itself a secular empirical philosophy built on hundreds of years of international cultural developments. As though the international standards of science and math (which symbols we use, which units of measurement we use, etc.) were not themselves products of European colonialism and imperialism. No care for whether your research results in medicine or weapons. All you gotta care about is math and science and technology. The market will take care of the rest. Absolutely brainwashed. People talked down to me for taking electives outside my major, especially anything having to do with social justice, imperialism, marginalized communities, feminism, history, etc.
Good post
The humanities would be a massive vanguard of revolutionary thought and activity, were it not for the fact getting a major with very non-obvious prospects and usually low pay keeps poors out. Just trying to understand any topic on a deeper level, especially the topics of how our society works and is generated, inevitably leads to hatred of capitalism, although many don't really understand how they are supposed to target that hatred or that better things are not just possible but actively denied to them daily. I think part of the reason theatre is usually propped up more by institutions than other humanities is because the egotistical or just self-centered approach to acting usually taught can keep revolutionary ideas from actually being produced. The classics are kept in such a funny place. Eurocentric imperialism is the only reason they exist, but eurocentric imperialism can't turn a profit off of them easily.
"Hey, Sergei?"
"Da Pyotr?"
"I am on capitalist American review site Yelp. Many reviewers give Babushka's Piroshki single star and say 'There is a war in Ukraine and Putin is the aggressor.'"
"That is very weird, Pyotr."
"Da, we must find these spies and punish them for wrongthink."
"No, Pyotr. No one who go to trouble to leave Babushka's Piroshki one star review could possibly be tellink lies."
"You are right, Sergei! Babushka's piroshkis are best piroshkis. Anyone who leave one star review must have good reason."
"Hey Sergei?"
"Da?"
"Want to single-handedly end Putin's war of aggression in the Ukraine, then drink liter of vodka and wrestle with bear?"
"But Pyotr, is only 10 am on Tuesday."
"Da?"
"We not wrestle bear til Wednesday this week."
"Shitski, Sergei, you are right. We must spend extra time killink spies for glory of Communist Russia."
"Is good, Pyotr. I am havink one more question."
"Da Sergei?"
"If we are in contemporary Russia, why are we speakink and actink like we are half-remembered villains from terrible '80's Capitalist American action cinema?"
"Best not to peer too close at fabric of our universe, Sergei; is very fragile."
"Da, understood Pyotr."Typical American moment suggesting other countries are brainwashed and lied to when we have some of the most brainwashed and lied to people on the planet.
the FEDs get paid for troll farming, but not students with back crushing debt :thinking-about-it:
They proposed doing this to Russians living in the United States? There's a good chance they already hate Putin if they're immigrants. This also reminds me of Indian business owners getting beat up after 9/11.
Not really related but this reminded me of when I took a politics class in college, the prof played us an Obama speech for whatever reason.
I swear to God this man was beaming and almost in tears like he was watching their kid hit a home run at a little league game.
I dropped out the next class lol all the other students were def pmc dsa karens. I mean, not really, but lib smugness was oozing out of that room each day I went.
the education field's infatuation with obama has been a distaster
