Expectations

Expectations in life: shattered.  Gone. 
Feeling of self-worth: lost.

You can do anything if you put in the effort.  Except anything that you haven't already done.

College isn't about technical training, it's about learning and developing thinking, writing and problem solving skills and interacting with a diverse group of people.  All of which is economically worthless.

Why are you reading [fill in title]?  We don't do that here.

Your labor and life is what you make of it.  But if you don't work 60 hours a week, it doesn't look like you care about this job or getting ahead.  Not that getting ahead is an option for you anyway right now.

Part of this is the feeling of being lied to, about life options, education, the value of work.  Part of it is the feeling of being abused - thanks for your two years of work, for the publications on [supervisor's] CV, don't let the door hit you on the way out.  Part of it is being forced from the people I care about, all in the name of having a supposedly good, prestigious job (which it turns out not to be).  Part of it is the pressure to conform to society's standard.  Part of it is the moral standard of work: the fact that having a job makes one a worthwhile citizen (this goes along with recent talk about the "dignity of work" and the removal of welfare benefits and food stamps for society's leaches).

It's all exhausting, and psychologically draining.  And I don't think I can deal with it any more.


"Farewell Angelina, I must go where it's quiet." -- Bob Dylan

Why?  Why are there "too many" PhD students for the number of jobs?  Why do people take poor-paying adjunct and postdoctoral positions?  These questions have been asked recently, with various conclusions: we need to graduate fewer people, tell them about their mediocre job prospects, destroy false hope, etc.  But the question rarely comes up as to what these people would be doing if they weren't in PhD programs, or adjunct teaching - largely because the alternatives are often significantly worse.  Alternatives such as being wait staff at a restaurant, barista at Starbuck's, or a paper-pusher sitting in a cubicle.  Such jobs are also mediocre to low pay, and can be degrading, or boring, or require ingrained interpersonal skills that many in academia simply do not possess or do not want to possess.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  Forcing individuals into jobs they don't want, are overqualified for, or are psychologically demanding is not good for anyone.  There is a problem with low pay - such a problem exists in many fields, including food services - but that is a systematic failure enforced by salaries being set by employers and not bargained for by employees.  And that is the main problem currently - pay based not on true productivity but instead on perceived (not necessarily actual) skill levels and competition in the labor market. 

Current Economics

The economy is in the dumps.  That much is certain.  The question is what can be done, and is anyone out there willing to do it?

First, we need some form of universal health care in this country.  Employer-based insurance has become a disaster; due to insurance cost on the private market, insurance is no longer a benefit, but is a necessity for an employer to provide for its workstaff.  Small firms cannot afford a large group plan (which is cheaper) and so are at a major disadvantage.  Workers as well - one cannot threaten to quit one's job if the pay, conditions, etc are not good enough for fear of losing health insurance.  This lowers bargaining power for employees, and bargaining power is something that is necessary for the labor market to work properly.

"Workshare" would also be an upgrade.  Reduce the regular work week to 30 hours and hire more employees to cover the difference.  This is in fact what should be happening as we become more efficient - everyone works less hard and spends more time on other activities.  Automation is good for everyone - we should embrace it and understand its positive consequences.

Also, cut bloated management salaries and use the money to hire younger workers.  Youth unemployment is a major problem because younger people are not gaining necessary experience - work, life, etc - and in 10-15 years this will mean nobody qualified to fill management positions that open up as people retire.  Also the fact that younger people cannot make enough money to save, afford housing, afford starting families, will lead to prolonged economic (and emotional) depression. 

More ideas in my head, too little time and space to write...

47%

Remember when Mitt Romney disrespected nearly half of the country, calling them lazy moochers?  It was difficult to hear, for me, as someone who for a while (grad school) paid no income taxes but still had ambitions, worked hard, etc.  The ambitions were not necessarily to make money, but that's a different topic.  Most people I interact with regularly are in the same boat - which confirmed my thought that Romney had no clue what he was talking about.  However, I now realize it is not that simple.  Living in Boulder, and overhearing some conversations in coffee shops, bars, etc, has mad me realize some things.  There are plenty of people out there with no ambitions, no desire to learn new things, no respect for science and knowledge, etc, who hang out in bars talking about garbage and slowly destroying their livers.  Yet they still want their smartphones, cheap and abundant food, etc (hint: these things are not possible without scientific breakthroughs).  And I've come to realize that this subset of the population significantly outweighs the portion that I consider myself to be part of.  And I'm kind of disturbed by this.

Elitism

In grad school, many people seemed intellectually curious.  Here, it seems, siggnificantly less so - and it is kind of disturbing.  Researchers, with PhDs in physics, really shouldn't complain about news coverage for the Higgs boson, and really shouldn't say that such research is pointless.  We should celebrate all scientific achievements and understand that the microcosms that we choose to work on (or are coerced into working on by whatever circumstances) are not more important than some other microcosm.  Not everybody can directly work on everything, but everyone should be aware of what is out there and what remains to be discovered, especially for the bigger-picture items.  That's part of being a good scientist.

Sounds from the visible underground

I went to a fundraiser for a group that supports economic justice last night. Some highlights of the conversations (names changed for anonymity) (mostly paraphrased - I don't remember the exact wordings):

"[Rob] is like the smartest guy I've met."
"I don't know, I have a high threshold for 'smartest person...'"

"I bid on your military history lunch thing. I can't wait to discuss the Battle of Teutoberg Forest's impact on the unification of Germany."
"I don't really do unification of Germany ... I mostly do World War 2, some Civil War."
"Sumerian Civil War?"
"Nothing ancient."
"Oh."

"It would have been nice to have the money to go to grad school."
"My grad school was fully funded - I actually saved a small amount of money."

Sure, like everyone else, I don't like wasteful government spending. But how does one define waste? Surely bombing Afghanistan back to the stone age after we've killed the guy we're there to capture is wasteful. Or doing the same in Iraq years after the maniac we went in there to depose has been deposed. Or sending helicopters to see who's growing cannabis in their backyard or the country's backyard (national forests). But no, government waste these days includes funding for science, public education, law enforcement, guaranteeing a clean food supply, etc.