[lbo-talk] Bizarre Comment from David Brooks

[Sean Andrews]

on the one hand, isn't it a falsehood that we don't make shit?  there
is still a pretty substantial manufacturing sector, but the idea that
we don't have one keeps it impoverished in the national imaginary. On
the other hand, there are plenty of people who are participating in
shifts so that we aren't even producing this kind of intellectual
value.  In today's Chronicle of Higher Ed there is an article about
the outsourcing of grading in writing intensive courses.  I haven't
signed in to read the whole article, but here's the lede:

http://chronicle.com/article/Outsourced-Grading-With/64954/

April 4, 2010
Some Papers Are Uploaded to Bangalore to Be Graded
Outsourced Grading, With Supporters and Critics, Comes to College

Lori Whisenant, who teaches business law and ethics at the U. of
Houston, has outsourced the grading of students' papers to a private
company.

By Audrey Williams June

Lori Whisenant knows that one way to improve the writing skills of
undergraduates is to make them write more. But as each student in her
course in business law and ethics at the University of Houston began
to crank out—often awkwardly—nearly 5,000 words a semester, it became
clear to her that what would really help them was consistent, detailed
feedback.

Her seven teaching assistants, some of whom did not have much
experience, couldn't deliver.

On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 07:48, James Leveque <jamespl79 at googlemail.com> wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/opinion/06brooks.html?hp
>
> "As the world gets richer, demand will rise for the sorts of products
> Americans are great at providing — emotional experiences. Educated Americans
> grow up in a culture of moral materialism; they have their sensibilities
> honed by complicated shows like “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and “Mad Men,”
> and they go on to create companies like Apple, with identities coated in
> moral and psychological meaning, which affluent consumers crave."
>
> To quote Frank Sobotka from "The Wire": "You know what the trouble is
> Brucey? We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put
> our hand in the next guy's pocket."
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