Science > Physics > Political Physics/Math: What Do Politicians Gain From Professor/Teacher Organizations?
| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"OsherD" |
| Date: |
09 Sep 2005 02:50:52 AM |
| Object: |
Political Physics/Math: What Do Politicians Gain From Professor/Teacher Organizations? |
From Osher Doctorow
Here in California the teacher unions interminably sponsor radio and/or
TV ads against Governor Schwartzenegger which say something like: "How
could he do this to the poor little children?" In other words, if a
State is bankrupt in all but name, not increasing Professors' and
Teachers' salaries and perks is a no-no because of the "dribble down"
theory that the little kids eventually suffer.
If that were true, then wouldn't teacher and professor unions go on
strike for the "poor little children"? Well, I've got news for you.
They don't. Look at the history of the last 50-100 years. They go on
strike for anything except "poor little children" and "poor students".
They don't even go on strike for untenured employees. They don't even
represent untenured employees legally.
What's going on? Well, many people think that teacher and professor
unions only try to get themselves heard by politicians, but actually it
works both ways. Politicians get a lot out of teacher and professor
unions/associations.
How? Well, take the late California (Dem.) Senator Alan Cranston. He
was the darling of the teacher and professor unions/associations. His
middle name could have been UCLA or Berkeley. But like the L.A. Times,
which also hobnobs with Academia, he got a lot out of it too. Imagine
that you raise your hand, and a million teachers vote for you. Maybe
it's less than a million at any particular time, but among voters
teachers and professors are among the most frequent voters and the most
motivated ones, although arguably not the most brilliant ones. The
Democratic Party is very largely financed by teacher union
contributions. So are their favorite politicians. And on and on.
The politicians steer the heavy funding through national and State
committees, and teachers vote for them - organized teachers,
politicized teachers and professors. Next to the Mafia and Terrorists
and Anti-Terrorists, there's nobody so organized. So what if the State
goes bankrupt because the University of California builds buildings as
thick as bomb shelters where Abraham Lincoln was comfortable in a log
cabin schoolhouse? Actually, that's only the tip of the iceberg.
They have Upper Class landscaping, sculpture gardens, art halls,
botanical gardens, dozens of dining facilities from the grand ballrooms
to the "bomb shelters", recreation rooms with billiards and ping pong
and arcades, meeting rooms for students organizations, gigantic picnic
lawns that would make golf courses blush, orchestras and musical
presentations for lunchtime with top bands playing, political speakers
of whom it has been estimated "reliably" that over 95% are Democrats by
a "coincidence", and on and on.
Wait a minute, U.C. will say. They're "paying for themselves" by
investing in stocks, bonds, etc. Actually, U.C. is over a billion
dollars in worth (I think it's now several billion) and really does
invest its money in long-term stocks, bonds, etc. And it's all
"Non-profit" (the latest UCLA magazine that's coming out now even says
so). Well, so is politics. In fact, politics is non-profit. It's the
most crooked game in town, but politics is non-profit. And most
politicians are lawyers. Are things beginning to make sense?
U.C. goes nowhere without a team of lawyers from various of its law
schools. Actually, it also goes nowhere without a team of politicians
and news media too. It's one step ahead of the Mafia. It's what the
Mafia would be if lawyers and bureaucrats really controlled the Mafia.
They've got students paying high fees, they've got the public paying
high fees, they've got the government funding them, and they've got a
huge surplus in stocks, bonds, etc. They've got college property that
Fort Knox would envy. They've got the top newspaper and TV and radio
publicity for "free", they've got politicians' speeches for them for
"free", and their professors can mount an attack on anybody's
"opposition to Academic Freedom," if everything else fails. Why aren't
there as many Republicans invited to address graduations as Democrats?
Because of "Academic Freedom." It's not only "Poor little kids," now
it's "How dare you violate our Academic Freedom by holding us
accountable or 'fair' by your standards?" And who is "you"? The
public. Both the Individual and the Plurality except for the Academic
in-group of professors and administrators and the service employees'
type unions. The taxpayers and students are pawns, "always" have been,
"always" will be. Unless somebody speaks up.
Osher Doctorow
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