I am in higher level education in the public university system. I used to view academia as a source of hope in society, and perhaps a progressive institution in someways, or some kind of source of hope with their supposed focus on science and research. After some years here, this “image” I had of academia has been shattered.
What are your perceptions of academia and research institutions, as Marxists?
For the most part, academia exposes a lot of the bullshit going on. However, liberal ideology prevents researchers from seeing “the elephant” i.e. the horrors of capitalism, so they go searching for answers down blind alleys. For example, in my field, research has established the brutality of our healthcare system; but, research will always seek to answer this by recommending and then further exploring “novel healthcare solutions” instead of, ya know, the solution that’s right in our face (FUCKING DESTROY OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM)
Haha, my partner is in Academia in healthcare, and she talks about that very thing like once a week, saying she has to resist the urge to point out “the elephant” on a weekly basis to her peers.
Haha there is a lot of time spent staring blankly and resisting the urge to explode on some of these hopelessly dense fuckers