[lbo-talk] Posh as Fuck

[Doug Henwood]

You gloomsters - campuses are major hubs of OWS, and there are a lot of demands around universities. Making universities better - and less expensive (and preferably free) - are central to the movement. Why despair of political struggle to improve the things? It energizes a large and talented social force and can make the world a better place. "We can do better" seems more fruitful than just "this shit sucks," which it does sometimes but not always.

Doug

On Dec 7, 2011, at 11:45 AM, Wojtek S wrote:


> Michael P: "I still think a struggle to redeem the universities is
> worth the effort."
> 
> [WS:] On one level, I agree.  But on another level, this call seems to
> rest on a dubious assumption that institutions can function
> independently of their socio-political environment.  From that pov,
> asking to "redeem" universities is like asking, say, to redeem the
> brain of a patient who has a lung cancer and is addicted to smoking.
> You cannot just redeem his brain without treating his cancer and his
> addiction.
> 
> A better proposition would be to redeem the whole "Unis" (to quote
> Michael Smith whose debating skills impressed me), their rotten
> institutional framework, and their addiction to anything private.  The
> feasibility of this is a moot proposition, however.
> 
> Wojtek
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