From: ibshambat@gmail.com   
      
   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.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)