The question might be, why do lefties seek jobs in academics?
But another question, answered adroitly by Robert Nozick, is why do intellectuals hate captialism? Perhaps THAT is the reason they gather in self-protecting academic ghettoes to congratulate one another on how clever each is.
3 comments:
It may be that "envy" is a bit of projection... I have long observed that pursuing a PhD and an academic career requires a certain lack of economic rationality and/or a relatively high utility attached to non-monetary benefits.
To the extent that a pro-market argument requires (a) assumptions of economic rationality and (b) a willingness to translate utility into monetary terms, it seems likely that those predisposed to an academic career will be disinclined to buy that argument.
Fundamentally, if you have as a goal the maximization of the monetary compensation for your effort, you are unlikely to be attracted to the graduate-school-to-ivory-tower career path.
I'm a bit unclear on how "I don't like constantly competing with new workers for my pay" and "I love tenure!" could be anything but highly correlated.
"Fundamentally, if you have as a goal the maximization of the monetary compensation for your effort, you are unlikely to be attracted to the graduate-school-to-ivory-tower career path."
Indeed. To maximize the ratio of money to effort, one must get a job with the government.
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