Don A. Rich
Instructor of Economics, History and Political Science
Delaware County Community College
Exton, PA
drich@dccc.eduNeeded For Academia: Get over Abelard, and Grow Some Balls
If you don’t recognize the reference, Abelard was a brilliant twelfth century scholar who rocked the medieval University of Paris on his arrival.
As usual, the Establishment in Academia hated him, because the old people who are usually allowed to dominate the Academy are usually ball-less wonders who are horrifyingly insecure that they could not function in the outside world.
The usual old people suspects in the establishment tried to drive Abelard out of Academia, but instead drove him into the clutches of a wealthy business man who needed a tutor for his bright daughter, and then straight into the arms of said bright and beautiful daughter, Heloise.
Upon learning of their torrid and child producing affair, the businessman had his minions cut off Abelard’s balls, thereby completing the castration of the Academy at an early age.
As far as this author can tell, the emasculation of the professoriate has not gotten much better in the intervening eight centuries.
For the most part, the profession of professor has always been dominated by ass-lickers of doctoral advisors whose main function is to indoctrinate the children of the upper classes and/or the replacements thereof into the dominant classes world view. This function remains the same whether that dominant view is the Keynesian crypto Socialism of today, the openly and homicidal inclined totalitarian Socialism of Stalinist Russia of Maoist China, the Manchester Liberalism of nineteenth century Britain, or the monarchism of eighteenth century Prussia.
When confronted with the dilemma of a new or challenging thought to that of the dominant classes, the cry of the professoriate for centuries has been the same: “Let me ask my warden, I mean my advisor, about that.” The more things change, the more they stay the same.
In particular, academics in the Social Sciences and Humanities are on average the least original people I have met in my entire life.
At least as an economist, political scientist and historian, I can legitimately claim to be better than the English professoriate, well parodied in the recent Steven King novel Lizie’s Story as psychotic individuals fatally jealous of anyone who can write something with a shelf-life longer than the latest academic fad that actually has something to say to us as human beings.
What is needed in academia is a testosterone replacement therapy, in which the profession drives out those who spread negativity in order to hide their own insecurity.
There is nothing more satisfying than helping others learn to think, and nothing more harmful than imposing our limitations on other people.
Hopefully as the professoriate approaches the millennium anniversary of its modern existence, it can finally get over its childhood emasculatory trauma and grow some balls and engage, and sometimes with the right background, dominate the world outside the Higher Learning.
If you look at the world collapsing around us, the world needs us, but with no pre-conceived notions, no literature to hide behind, just a willingness to confront the eternal truths of human nature which it is the professoriate’s privilege to study; besides, after the coming general system failure, the best among us get to rule, which is big improvement over Abelard.
