I've Solved the Deficit

[DriXnaK]

Tenured professors shouldn't exist. They're ****ing useless. Tenure shouldn't exist period. Also, I think the private sector is better when it comes to research. Honestly, the academic system is mostly a sham.

[Asher]

I think you'd speak of academia differently if they found a cure for gayface.

[Jon Miller]

Not to disparage what KH does, but what exactly is the contribution being made by working for GS?

Certainly people could make more money outside of academia, but so what? If everyone based their career choices solely on how much money they would make, that would probably not be in society's best interests. Being a tenured professor is a pretty cushy, enjoyable life. At least, my dad certainly thinks so!

He is contributing to the financial system in the US (whether the financial system should change/etc is a different discussion).

Most experimentalists add a few points to a curve or what have you, pretty minimal contributions to science. Many theorists come up with a number of theories which others were also investigating (and would develop soon), which might possibly be investigated by experimentalists sometime in their lifetimes.

JM
(Can still be enjoyable and rewarding, though.)

[KrazyHorse]

Boris, what makes you think you're more competent to judge the relative values of various occupations than are the people who pay a worker's bills?

[Boris Godunov]

He is contributing to the financial system in the US (whether the financial system should change/etc is a different discussion).

Aren't we all? But many would argue that GS and the like are more of a pox on the system than a benefit to it.

Most experimentalists add a few points to a curve or what have you, pretty minimal contributions to science. Many theorists come up with a number of theories which others were also investigating (and would develop soon), which might possibly be investigated by experimentalists sometime in their lifetimes.

JM
(Can still be enjoyable and rewarding, though.)

Aren't we forgetting one of the primary functions of university professors?

[Boris Godunov]

Boris, what makes you think you're more competent to judge the relative values of various occupations than are the people who pay a worker's bills?

I'm not making that judgment, but I do question the idea that salary necessarily correlates to value to society. Frankly I'm not sure what exactly you do, but I'm sure you find your job valuable and rewarding, which is great. And that's really the key thing, isn't it? It doesn't matter what someone else thinks of your job, it's what you think of it and whether or not you find it rewarding.

[KrazyHorse]

Given that you're not a party to any of the transactions we engage in, your opinion is basically worthless.

Our clients and counterparts value our services enough to buy them, and our management values my contribution to enabling those transactions enough to pay me for it.

[Jon Miller]

Aren't we forgetting one of the primary functions of university professors?

Most of what professors teach could be done just as well (And much cheaper) by people with the equivalent of a Masters (and Post Doc experience is definitely not needed for teaching).

I agree, teaching is a valuable activity. That isn't what most professors are most skilled in nor the reason they are professors (most of the professors who focus on teaching go to community colleges/etc and get paid closer to high school teachers with a PhD than a university professor).

Additionally, most people need to learn the science they could learn in highschool or in physics 101, they don't need someone with a PhD to teach them that.

JM

[Lorizael]

Given that you're not a party to any of the transactions we engage in, your opinion is basically worthless.

Not really. You can have an alternative (non-monetary) measure of a person's worth without knowing the specifics of what they do if your values are based on kinds of work. After all, your employer doesn't know exactly what you do to complete your obligations. Up to a point, your employer only cares that you get the job done, whatever that job may be. And your compensation (and worth, in the eyes of society/your employer) is based on that. But value can be based on something other than your ability to meet your obligations or the specific method by which you do so.

[Whoha]

True enough, but it's not like we're up to our eyeballs in pirates. Does "overseas interests" = territories, or is that phrase another way of saying "use intimidation to get what we want?"

If we do reduce that much of our fleet it will be a long time before we could respond to piracy flaring up, because that also means getting rid of the shipyards we do still have. Overseas interests is allies,territories,the sources of the things our economy is dependent on importing, and yes leverage as well.

[DriXnaK]

I think you'd speak of academia differently if they found a cure for homosexuality.

Fixed, and I agree. Finding a cure for fags like yourself should be a top priority. Here's to the future of genetics.

[Asher]

The only people looking for a "cure" for it are those who are know they are homosexual and don't want to be.

I can see why you "fixed" that quote. Your face tells me everything.

[Al B. Sure!]

It's okay, Asher. The steroids have upset his hormonal balance. He's producing a little too much estrogen to compensate.

[KrazyHorse]

Not really. You can have an alternative (non-monetary) measure of a person's worth without knowing the specifics of what they do if your values are based on kinds of work. After all, your employer doesn't know exactly what you do to complete your obligations. Up to a point, your employer only cares that you get the job done, whatever that job may be. And your compensation (and worth, in the eyes of society/your employer) is based on that. But value can be based on something other than your ability to meet your obligations or the specific method by which you do so.

Lori, my employer cares as much as it does about my job getting done because clients and counterparts are willing to pay us.

The people who benefit from my work are the ones whose demand curve matters, and they are also the ones with the best knowledge of the value my work provides them.

In the end, commentaries on what the value of people's work is from those who aren't directly involved in transactions to which they provide value are meaningless

[DriXnaK]

It's okay, Asher. The steroids have upset his hormonal balance. He's producing a little too much estrogen to compensate.

It's amazing to me Albi that given your position, and the fact that you proved beyond a doubt that you know nothing, that you still try to attack me. Haven't you figured it out yet Albi? You can't ever hope to come near my level in anything. I guess being the badass marine that you are you can't help but keep fighting right? Honestly, in all my years on here, you are one of the biggest jokes I have ever seen. You really have nothing going for you.

The only people looking for a "cure" for it are those who are know they are homosexual and don't want to be.

I can see why you "fixed" that quote. Your face tells me everything.

You're going by one picture from an underneath angle. This is your trump card? This is your only attack you can seem to come up with? My god man. You'd be better off attacking my lack of a career since it has far more grounds for attack. This whole gayface thing is about as weak as it gets. Don't worry Asher, you'll be cured of your inferior genetics someday, just as the millions of others afflicted by homosexuality will be cured.