>I have always tried not to an elitist academic. I seldom lose my temper
>and I always treat students with respect. I am not telling you these
>things as a joke or to make fun of students. But it seems to me that
>capitalism has succeeded rather well in preparing young people to
>believe just about anything and not to know how to analyze anything.
When I talk to undergraduates I'm impressed by they don't seem to give a fuck about anything. They sit there, blankly. People tell me it's fear, but if it is, it's disguised as a great ennui. Maybe it's just me, or what I have to say, or maybe it's been the colleges I've been to. There are enough exceptions to make me think that maybe it isn't just me or what I have to say - Pace, the CUNY colleges (both of which are filled with motivated immigrant and native working class students), and the 2 Canadian universities I've visited (UBC & Laurentian). And then there are the seniors at Trinity, the elite Manhattan private school (George Soros' kids go there). They're very smart, very interested, and full of comments and questions. Of course, the school spends something like $23,000 per student.
Doug