Michael Yates wrote:
> No, I am fron a town named Ford City 40 miles north of Pittsburgh and
> once home to the largest glass factory in the world.
>
> Michael Yates
>
> Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema wrote:
> >
> > Are you from the Mahoning Valley too?
> > Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema
> >
> > Michael Yates wrote:
> >
> > > Christopher,
> > >
> > > Of course, things are more complex than my message suggests. Though in
> > > my home town, things today are much more distressing than when I grew
> > > up. Not more sophisticated but less. Many of the folks in my father's
> > > factory were more knowledgeable than most of the people remaining after
> > > the factory closed. The reason for this is that people are a lot poorer
> > > now than they were then. Drug abuse, alcoholism, despair, crime, all run
> > > rampant now, worse by far than when I was a boy there. I am not
> > > romanticizing the past here either.
> > >
> > > michael Yates
> > >
> > > Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I talked with a friend about this distressing message. He is an academic, and I am
> > > > not. My parents, however, were academics, at a college (later a state U) not very
> > > > far from where Yates is about to retire. My friend's parents were not academics.
> > > >
> > > > My friend agrees with Yates' perception of students as increasingly blunted and
> > > > stupefied. (Hope he and Yates agree with my paraphrase.). I however clearly
> > > > recollect my parents complaining about their students being like this back in the
> > > > fifties. I actually see improvements in the general level of literacy and culture
> > > > in the US, from my childhood. Abysmal, of course, compared to Europe, also compared
> > > > to the less provincial parts of the US, but still better than it was. For example,
> > > > when I was growing up in the Mahoning valley there was no bookstore, and my father
> > > > simply maintained an account at B. H. Blackwell's in Oxford, England because it
> > > > was simplest to buy books from the catalog.
> > > >
> > > > I've spent my adult life in New York City, and frequently get into discussions with
> > > > natives of NYC in which I point out that they fail to appreciate positive
> > > > developments in the provinces. On a different level, they cannot believe that
> > > > McDonald's is an actual improvment in cuisine over what prevailed as cheap food
> > > > away from home in the midwest in the fifties. On still a different level, of
> > > > course, we must celebrate Mr. José Bové's efforts to counter the McDonaldization of
> > > > cuisine in France, but then for the French, it is a step down, not up.
> > > >
> > > > I wonder if other academics on this list could respond to the question of whether
> > > > or not students are or are not effectively stupider than they used to be.
> > > >
> > > > Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema
> > > >
> > > > Michael Yates wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Dear friends,
> > > > >
> > > > > I have rejoined a couple of these lists after a hiatus of several
> > > > > months. I am about to retire from my job as a college teacher, after 32
> > > > > long and, of late, nearly unbearable years. I have spoken about this
> > > > > before, but in my view academe in is a state of paralysis, at least as
> > > > > far as it being a center of critical thought and action. It is true and
> > > > > to be highly commended that students on some campuses have begun to
> > > > > express outrage at the state of their campuses and the state of the
> > > > > world at large. If only more of their professors joined with them.
> > > > > Unfortunately most professors, including those supposedly on the left,
> > > > > sometimes talk a good game but seldom do much else. For every David
> > > > > Montgomery or Jim Blaut or Angela Davis, there are scores of perpetual
> > > > > conference goers and vita builders, intent on making names for
> > > > > themselves and impressing their more orthodox colleagues, while they
> > > > > oppose their graduate students' attempts to organize and mix and mingle
> > > > > with the common people only by accident (note that I am not here
> > > > > speaking of those admirable souls who labor, often heroically, in the
> > > > > backwaters of academe, themselves badly exploited workers). Meanwhile
> > > > > the colleges and universities become ever more like businesses,
> > > > > becoming, as David Noble correctly points out, primary centers of
> > > > > capital accumulation.
> > > > >
> > > > > And if there are some students who have begun to see the light (though
> > > > > as Doug Henwood and Lisa Featherstone have pointed out, they seem to be
> > > > > in dire need of a theory to guide them. Where are their professors?),
> > > > > there are tens of thousands more who have not only not seen the light
> > > > > but are actively opposed to it. Racism, sexism, homophobia, violence of
> > > > > all kinds, hyper-individualism – al are alive and well on our nation's
> > > > > campuses. Not to mention a kind of almost wilful ignorance that has to
> > > > > be experienced to be believed. I used to point out to students in some
> > > > > of my classes the deleterious effects of long hours of labor on a
> > > > > worker's intelligence. Marx has a good example in Capital, vol. I,
> > > > > where he quotes a factory inspector, whose interrogation of child mill
> > > > > workers indicated that they knew virtually nothing. One child said that
> > > > > a princess was a man, and another did not know that he lived in
> > > > > England. Herbert Gutman in his book, "Work, Culture, and Society"
> > > > > quotes a New Jersey inspector to the same effect: One boy thought Europe
> > > > > was in the moon, while another thought that the word "boy" was a comma.
> > > > > These days, however, I wonder how much such examples mean. Consider
> > > > > that I have a student in a seminar on Marx who wrote that the "Communist
> > > > > Manifesto" is a novel. In my introductory class, a student wrote "The
> > > > > Unighted States." Another wrote that a good that is not "inferior" (one
> > > > > for which, other things equal, as income rises, purchases fall) is
> > > > > "ferior." Still another asked seriously whether it was "demand and
> > > > > supply" or "supply and demand." In the seminar, after I had explained
> > > > > Marx's concept of the value of labor power (its value equals the value
> > > > > of those consumption goods necessary for the worker to continue working
> > > > > and insure that the worker's children grow up to become workers), I
> > > > > asked the class what Marx says is the minimum value of labor power. A
> > > > > student awoke from a dead sleep (this in a class of ten, all sitting
> > > > > around a seminar table) and blurted out "$5.15!! I have seriously
> > > > > suggested that our school sell sweatshirts emblazoned with the slogan,
> > > > > "Proud to be stupid."
> > > > >
> > > > > After three decades of increasingly disinterested students,
> > > > > accommodating faculty, and cynical administrators (who engendered the
> > > > > climate that encourages the first two), I have found it impossible to
> > > > > continue. I had to wait til I was 55 to be able to access my pension,
> > > > > but now that I am of age, I can no longer continue to participate in
> > > > > this charade. What has saved me from complete demoralization is that
> > > > > beginning in 1980 I began to teach workers outside of the college. And
> > > > > for the past two years I have been teaching prisoners. I am curious why
> > > > > more progressive academics do not do this. It would be a way of
> > > > > practicing what they preach. For example, I periodically teach
> > > > > economics to union folks at UMass-Amherst. Now this is supposedly a
> > > > > hotbed of radical economics. Yet I fly in form Pittsburgh to teach the
> > > > > class. Where is Bowles or Gintis or Wolfe or Resnick or Pollin?
> > > > > Perhaps the pay is not high enough or they are away on academic business
> > > > > (the class is taught while most of the regular students are on break).
> > > > >
> > > > > As I wind down my last term, I feel nothing for my academic career. My
> > > > > wife and I have decided to leave town the week after the term is
> > > > > finished and never come back. We are giving away nearly all of our
> > > > > possessions (I have already given away all of my books and journals,
> > > > > thrown away my notes and files, and put my various awards and plaques in
> > > > > the trash where they belong). When we are done, we will have a few
> > > > > personal belongings, a used car, a computer, and of course, my pension.
> > > > > This has been the most liberating thing I have ever done. We are moving
> > > > > to Yellowstone Park for the summer to work in a hotel there, she as a
> > > > > hostess in the restaurant and me as a front-desk clerk. I haven't been
> > > > > so excited about a new job and a new life in many years. I will
> > > > > maintain my connection with Monthly Review magazine, and I may move to
> > > > > New York to work for MR in the future. And of course we will always be
> > > > > dedicated to the working class from which we came and whose liberation,
> > > > > while a long way off, is the prerequisite for the creation of a society
> > > > > with any pretension at all to freedom and democracy.
> > > > >
> > > > > Michael Yates