More quitters
I see the Greek prettyboys have finally done what they should have done first. Decided to GET OUT of EU hell. They're doing it the bankshot way, of course, via a referendum, but they're still doing it.

Good. Now let's have more.

We need more quitters.

We need more people and institutions and countries who are instantly ready to GET OUT of whatever traps them. We need to save our own souls first.

Science would be in better shape if careerism didn't dominate. If students and postdocs and faculty were more willing to say "No, this project is crap and I'm not going to participate", we'd have a lot less crap.

Same applies in business and politics. Entirely too often we hear the truth about Satan from FORMER officials who spent 30 years ferociously advancing Satan. If the official had quit the first time Satan asked for his help, his talent wouldn't have been serving Satan.

What's the key?

Debt vs savings.

It's blazingly obvious with Greece, which has been living like an aristocrat on Kraut credit instead of living as a free peasant. Other small EU countries who chose the realistic peasant path (eg Slovakia) are especially irritated at Greece.

More subtle in academia. Before Tenure took over in 1970, professoring was a fairly leisurely occupation. It didn't pay very well, but it also didn't require lots of time. Many profs had 'old money' or inherited property. They lived better with the money from profing, but they could survive for a while without it. Result: a lot less crap and (comparatively) more careful and thoughtful research. Now that graduates start with a lifetime of debt, maximum employment and maximum grants are desperately necessary for survival.

= = = = =

ZIRP is no mystery, no mere accident of math. ZIRP is an intentional pogrom against savers, designed to force everyone into debt servitude.

Labels: 20th century Dark Age

  ¶ 6:11 AM