I complete agree with that. It just frustrates me that it’s the case, when almost everyone around me has that ideal in mind, at least from what they say. Then again, there are plenty of people I know who are more than willing to stab others in the back if it benefits their careers.
Yes, and this frustrates me. One of things I’ve tried to illustrate to my students in my classes is that change doesn’t just happen - history isn’t outside of us, rather it’s made by us (although in imperfect levels of agency). History (and other humanities fields) can give us that broader perspective to show how cause and effect have worked, and how we can seek out these turning points and try to steer them in a more productive directions… what do we WANT out of a university, in other words, and how can we make choices to steer things in that direction. Pie in the sky, I know, since so many of us are just keeping our heads down and trying to carve out something of a life. But collectively, we do have the tools to make change… it’s a case of getting people to see that we do and getting people to want to make changes. Then again, much like you, I’m just sort of a fucking docile citizen, because of the job market… If I make waves, it’s curtains. So just more of me getting hammered into a hole I don’t really fit into, just with slightly less cruelty than I grew up with…
I get that. The question is how to dislodge the ideology and replace it with something different. Not sure how that works in the age of neoliberalism, frankly.
