Individual,

now i don't want to talk myself up, but i did get quite a few academic articles published, including two that defended the Howard government even though i was then a Labor voter.

When my work at ANU dropped, I actually wrote to many universities indicating i would work for a much cheaper rate as a research assistant.

but the system is entrenched and all job applications go before a panel and get compensated the same way.

i love the arts, but if i had my time again i would have done a different degree, one where I could prosper even if i tried to undercut the opposition in price just to get the work.

i believe in a decent minimum wage, but i always believed university work is overpaid. i often told my professor supervisor that.

Sorry mate but who is Soot? and if he said that then report him to the OLO editors! why is it so difficult to get you guys to focus on the articles rather than focus on bitchy fights of personality?

Dear Alison,

You aren't by any chance an engineer are you?

Chris Lewis,
I appreciate that you see where I'm coming from & yes, it is not fair to throw all of Academia in the same basket and, I assure you, I actually don't. The only way I can describe how I feel about Academia from personal experience is thus; The old saying "there is a bad apple in every crate" would apply to Academia in reverse as in "there is only one good apple in every crate".
Academia in my view actually brings it on itself by not having a clear distinction between someone who has graduated & is of no value to anyone & someone who has graduated & became a valued & responsible member in society !
The basic academically educated should not be called an Academic, they should have another description. I mean there are Scholars & Academics but what do you call the useless hangers-on with a Degree ? In the Public service for example it is now almost impossible to land a position without a Uni degree, yet many of these "educated" people are failures as is obvious by the state of affairs of various Departments.
How many times do we hear calls of "these incompetents in Govt" etc. How is it they're incompetent despite having above average education ?
Where is the stumbling block in the system ?

Individual, I have been in both camps ( Academia and Bluffocray) and industry.. yeh I am in my third trimester of life ( senile if I recall Aidan latest thrown stone). T

he answer is the senior culture of the bluffocray and nepotism. Until there is an independent body that vets and runs selection process and promotions, it will, as it is in the Rum-Corps state of NSW anyway, going to fill the Bluffocracy with sycophants and ass lickers with below average intelligent and values... Upstairs/downstairs" style."

i have long thought best way to reward scholarship is to pay by academic publication, with journals rated by a board from across political spectrum.

that is assuming society and govt want to reward humanities scholarship.

my two pieces defending the Howard govt were done in my own time, one based on my PhD.

in the end, probably not a good career move given I was described by one former supervisor as an anti-Labor government scholar.

don't think my Home Insulation or Building the Education critiques went down well either.