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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2019 11:56:54 GMT -5
That's been the genius of a certain movement. To shift the focus from the wealthy to the poor (or immigrants or even peers) -- just waiting to jump ahead of you in line thanks to a system rigged to give them favors.
And the lie is swallowed whole.
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Post by ironhammer on Mar 16, 2019 12:02:18 GMT -5
That's been the genius of a certain movement. To shift the focus from the wealthy to the poor (or immigrants or even peers) -- just waiting to jump ahead of you in line thanks to a system rigged to give them favors. And the lie is swallowed whole. Decreasing upward social mobility and increasing inequality is not a lie. The problem is that is it exploited by some who are the very ones who worsen the inequality, to push for their own agenda. And, I'm sorry to say this, but too many Americans are too stupid to know the difference. It's like someone stirring a pot of warming water, and the frogs in the pot believed the stirrer's soothing words that it's in their best interest to stay in the increasingly hot pot...until they realized it's too late.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2019 13:56:37 GMT -5
I didn't say it was a lie. The lie being swallowed is the lie about what -- and who -- is causing it.
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Post by Wolfgang on Mar 16, 2019 15:09:00 GMT -5
Does “perks” come from “percolate”?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2019 15:21:47 GMT -5
Perquisite.
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Post by holidayhusker on Mar 16, 2019 17:18:20 GMT -5
The entire system rewards those who have. Those who struggle to make ends meet often end up paying a higher interest rate on homes, cars, etc, they also end up paying late fees on utilities, etc. Everything in our culture is geared toward rewarding those who have while those who don't continue being hit with obstancles. Hard work and good decision making should be rewarded in some way though but why does it make sense to keep penalizing those who are already struggling financially.
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Post by gnu2vball on Mar 16, 2019 17:30:03 GMT -5
The entire system rewards those who have. Those who struggle to make ends meet often end up paying a higher interest rate on homes, cars, etc, they also end up paying late fees on utilities, etc. Everything in our culture is geared toward rewarding those who have while those who don't continue being hit with obstancles. Hard work and good decision making should be rewarded in some way though but why does it make sense to keep penalizing those who are already struggling financially. Those who set these policies must be a lot like dogs. They do it because they can; just as dogs lick themselves in certain places.
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Post by breakoutsports on Mar 16, 2019 18:56:16 GMT -5
The whole university system is pretty distorted. University presidents and many professors in the sciences make giant paychecks while students live on nothing and graduate with $100,000s in debt. Donations from the wealthy keep a crooked system running
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Post by Wolfgang on Mar 16, 2019 20:13:17 GMT -5
You know what? I think I knew this. And then forgot. LOL!
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Post by Wolfgang on Mar 16, 2019 20:22:50 GMT -5
True confession:
As a high schooler, I came up with a get-rich-quick scheme which involved getting into a top school where rich kids attended, meeting (and eventually marrying) a girl from a rich family, and then hopefully, landing an executive job at my father-in-law's company. Yes, I wasn't proud. I was willing to marry for money. Didn't work out. The girls I developed relationships with were, for some reason, all from solid middle class families who owned the neighborhood hardware store or delicatessen. And I never ended up exploiting my connections with all my other friends. All this, despite the fact that I was willing to sell-out for a measly $20 at a Halloween party. (There, I was in a costume. I did crazy stuff. At the end of the evening, there was a costume contest. For 3rd place, they said I could win $20 if I took off my costume to reveal my true identity. I said, "Heck, yeah. I'll do anything for $20!" LOL!)
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Post by ironhammer on Mar 16, 2019 22:08:46 GMT -5
The whole university system is pretty distorted. University presidents and many professors in the sciences make giant paychecks while students live on nothing and graduate with $100,000s in debt. Donations from the wealthy keep a crooked system running Some full professors certainly do earn a lot, but the ones making the most are often the university administrators. Their ranks have swell over the years. They often are the ones holding real power in a university, determining funding and how policies are implemented. Meanwhile, the research and teaching staff, those aiming to get tenure are another exploited group. The openings for lecturer and assistant or full professor positions have not grown much over the years. But the number of freshly minted PhDs have grown substantially. So there is more supply than demand. And many PhDs, assuming they can even land a teaching job, end up as "adjunct professor", positions based on temporary contracts, no tenure and pay that is so low you could make more money working at 7-11.
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Post by mikegarrison on Mar 17, 2019 4:09:02 GMT -5
That's been the genius of a certain movement. To shift the focus from the wealthy to the poor (or immigrants or even peers) -- just waiting to jump ahead of you in line thanks to a system rigged to give them favors. And the lie is swallowed whole. 'Cause everybody's gotta have somebody to look down on Who they can feel better than at any time they please Someone doin' somethin' dirty decent folks can frown on
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Post by breakoutsports on Mar 17, 2019 6:54:04 GMT -5
The whole university system is pretty distorted. University presidents and many professors in the sciences make giant paychecks while students live on nothing and graduate with $100,000s in debt. Donations from the wealthy keep a crooked system running Some full professors certainly do earn a lot, but the ones making the most are often the university administrators. Their ranks have swell over the years. They often are the ones holding real power in a university, determining funding and how policies are implemented. Meanwhile, the research and teaching staff, those aiming to get tenure are another exploited group. The openings for lecturer and assistant or full professor positions have not grown much over the years. But the number of freshly minted PhDs have grown substantially. So there is more supply than demand. And many PhDs, assuming they can even land a teaching job, end up as "adjunct professor", positions based on temporary contracts, no tenure and pay that is so low you could make more money working at 7-11. Exactly. It seems the goal of the system isn’t providing a great education and the environment and support for academic research—it’s to make administrators wealthy.
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Post by owlsem on Mar 18, 2019 22:25:53 GMT -5
If I were to do this, I would set up an endowment or some building fund in my name toward a wing or a building at, let's say, Duke. Also, I would tell the officials that I have three kids who will apply to this school and "wouldn't it be great if they were accepted here?" Then, I would say I will add $1M to the endowment every year. If, say, I was very unhappy about something *hint*hint*, I would no longer continue to add $1M to the endowment and I will cut all my ties to the school. Finally, I would say that due to my unhappiness, I will set up an even bigger endowment at a rival school, say UNC. But I would never do any of this shiite. My kids got into great schools on their own. Yes, with no help from daddy and mommy. Wolfgang, you are far too humble. i am pleased you are proud of your children and their schools. They did not get there without your help. After your failed plan to marry rich my guess is you found someone you cared for, who was intellectually challenging and socially adept. Then you had offspring that benefited from an above average gene pool. You and your spouse taught them social skills by example. Lived in nice neighborhoods, fed them regularly, dressed them in the fashions, went to top schools, gave them lessons to compete in a skill or sport that interested them, tutors if needed, SAT class if needed and the money to apply to as many schools as they wanted. In general you showed up. After all that they were able to get into the school of their dreams that was to your satisfaction. Many parents are not able to or willing to provide what you did in raising productive members of society. I thank you for your efforts and admire your accomplishment. Suppose it took a bit more? How much further would you be willing to go to help your children? If money was no object, and you needed to push it over the line to get into their school? Could you say nothing more? Could you still say it was done without your help? i don't know I could. Money was an object and my kids got into schools that satisfied me so it was never a temptation. But... Above board the wealthy give land and endowments but future access to the school is not granted (wink wink). This is what the Clinton foundation scandal was about. Access and the appearance of a conflict of interest. Is this acceptable in academia just because there is a gain for all students from land or endowment or is it truly a conflict of interest? If the institution takes federal loans or money I think it is criminal conduct. Below board the issue is what we see in the current scandal. The problem though is if their is institutional corruption in the leadership of academia why should we expect the coaches and administrators to behave better? I appreciate the parents are not acting in accord with my standards, but they have more money and ... are they just doing what all parents do, albeit at a higher level, giving their children the best they can/need to afford to get the school their child wants, or they want for their child. Their conduct is understandable. If we want to solve this issue endowments should be de-conflicted and progeny should be excluded from future classes. Alternatively all admissions should be managed by a central authority with assignments to institutions being on a geographic and test score basis. Well neither will ever work. So we have to rely on the ethics of leaders of institutions that have failed us. Maybe they will learn. The good news is some good kids, like yours will continue to roll off the lines within the bounds of acceptable standards. But they did it with your help Wolfgang.
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Post by Wolfgang on Mar 19, 2019 1:19:44 GMT -5
If I were to do this, I would set up an endowment or some building fund in my name toward a wing or a building at, let's say, Duke. Also, I would tell the officials that I have three kids who will apply to this school and "wouldn't it be great if they were accepted here?" Then, I would say I will add $1M to the endowment every year. If, say, I was very unhappy about something *hint*hint*, I would no longer continue to add $1M to the endowment and I will cut all my ties to the school. Finally, I would say that due to my unhappiness, I will set up an even bigger endowment at a rival school, say UNC. But I would never do any of this shiite. My kids got into great schools on their own. Yes, with no help from daddy and mommy. Wolfgang, you are far too humble. i am pleased you are proud of your children and their schools. They did not get there without your help. After your failed plan to marry rich my guess is you found someone you cared for, who was intellectually challenging and socially adept. Then you had offspring that benefited from an above average gene pool. You and your spouse taught them social skills by example. Lived in nice neighborhoods, fed them regularly, dressed them in the fashions, went to top schools, gave them lessons to compete in a skill or sport that interested them, tutors if needed, SAT class if needed and the money to apply to as many schools as they wanted. In general you showed up. After all that they were able to get into the school of their dreams that was to your satisfaction. Many parents are not able to or willing to provide what you did in raising productive members of society. I thank you for your efforts and admire your accomplishment. Suppose it took a bit more? How much further would you be willing to go to help your children? If money was no object, and you needed to push it over the line to get into their school? Could you say nothing more? Could you still say it was done without your help? i don't know I could. Money was an object and my kids got into schools that satisfied me so it was never a temptation. But... Above board the wealthy give land and endowments but future access to the school is not granted (wink wink). This is what the Clinton foundation scandal was about. Access and the appearance of a conflict of interest. Is this acceptable in academia just because there is a gain for all students from land or endowment or is it truly a conflict of interest? If the institution takes federal loans or money I think it is criminal conduct. Below board the issue is what we see in the current scandal. The problem though is if their is institutional corruption in the leadership of academia why should we expect the coaches and administrators to behave better? I appreciate the parents are not acting in accord with my standards, but they have more money and ... are they just doing what all parents do, albeit at a higher level, giving their children the best they can/need to afford to get the school their child wants, or they want for their child. Their conduct is understandable. If we want to solve this issue endowments should be de-conflicted and progeny should be excluded from future classes. Alternatively all admissions should be managed by a central authority with assignments to institutions being on a geographic and test score basis. Well neither will ever work. So we have to rely on the ethics of leaders of institutions that have failed us. Maybe they will learn. The good news is some good kids, like yours will continue to roll off the lines within the bounds of acceptable standards. But they did it with your help Wolfgang. Wow! This is quite a love letter! There are many things in your post that are incorrect but you had no way of knowing that. I thank you fo your sentiment, however.
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