``...Hacker asks his white students at Queens College how much...for being born black. The average is around $1 million'' Doug
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Hilarious. That's the first figure that popped into my mind. Then I though, wait a minute, a million bucks doesn't go as far as it used to, and then you're black for life and life can be a long time.
So I decided 500 million, if I could have it securely invested---another big if.... so make it a cool billion.
Oh, yeah and I start born at, let's see about twenty-eight with a PhD and four year postdoc in Astronomy, with a position in a major telescope, an on going love affair with a woman scientist, in a related field...
See I don't think a billion bucks makes up for the kind work and the kind of shit (you have to eat) it will take to get a professional job, degree, and life. That's a lot of shit to eat, even if you're white---just add a few shovels more at every feeding and pretty soon your talking serious piles...
Then I thought about the hard sciences and the scientific culture. Do I want to have to have every calculation double checked because, well you know, and every decision second guessed by someone else, and always fight on position. Astronomy is team sport and teams are very competitive and can be really nasty on the inside. Do I want that kind of working life...where compedence is never a given?
So fuck the whole proposition.
CG