Liberals and Academia

[Ilya Shambat]

We see many conservatives complaining that teachers and scientists tend to be liberals. That is because of their values. Scientists and teachers don’t make very much money, and people driven by financial interest avoid these professions. The only people who are attracted to these professions are either people who are driven by service or people who love the field. And these vastly tend to be liberals.

I was planning an academic career. But when I went to the university the academia was being defunded, and prospects for an academic career were scant. I went into computers, and when that crashed I was under-employed and did a range of low-paying jobs. However I did not spend that time bumming around. I translated a vast body of Russian poetry into English and came up with useful, original thought on a range of subjects. I’ve made my contributions to the world.

What happens to people who otherwise would have been academics? Mainly, they have to find other ways to make do. Most go into private employment, and some of them end up doing well enough. So then there are prosperous people with liberal associations, and the conservatives can no longer claim to own prosperity. They complain about it, but they are at fault for this because they defunded the academia.

Now teachers and academics are frequently regarded as losers. Losers or not, you need them. Most of what business sells is technology, and technology comes from science. Teachers educate both the businessman and the worker, and without education prosperity would be impossible. It is completely wrong to treat these people like dirt. Their contributions are greater than those of any businessman or any yuppie, and it is imperative for the country that they be treated with respect.

Another problem is the conservative concept of what is responsibility. They see responsibility as being about being financially well-off. That is a wrong concept of responsibility. Responsibility is about leaving the world a better place than you have found it. I’ve known yuppies who made a lot of money and teachers and scientists who didn’t. I did not find yuppies to be more responsible than teachers and scientists. The strongest case that anyone made to me for responsibility was from a scientist, and I respect his views. My grandmother was a teacher, and she was at least as responsible as any businessman.

So we have people spitting on teachers in scientists, in the same way as in another era people spat on the military personnel. In both cases we see vast irresponsibility. You need the teachers and scientists in the same way as you need the military. To claim these people to be losers or irresponsible or anything of the sort is completely wrong. It leaves these professions without people wanting to perform them; and that starves the country of a lot of what it needs.

Some equate these people with socialism. As Margaret Thatcher said, “the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” She forgot to ask the question that another great capitalist supporter Ayn Rand asked, “What is the root of money?” Most of what business sells is technology, and technology comes from science. Which means that it is science, not business, that is the ultimate root of prosperity.

Far be it from me to militate against business. Many good things have come out of capitalism, and we continue to benefit from these things every day. But let’s not forget how much prosperity is owed to teachers and scientists. These people are not losers, and they are not irresponsible. You need them. And that means that these people deserve to be treated with respect.