We Can’t Change Our History, But We Can Make It More Expensive!
When the Prime Minister made the bold assertion that there was no slavery in Australia, many were quick to point out his poor knowledge of our history forcing Morrison to correct himself. Of course, many people would have left it as that, but not our leader.
No, we can’t have all these elites telling the PM that he’s wrong, so he sprung into action and doubled the price of doing a Humanities course at university. That’ll teach those smart-arises to correct him.
Not that there isn’t some merit to ensuring that, when you undertake a large debt to become educated, you are able to find a job which will enable you to repay it. After all, the government recently received a lot of flack over Robodebt where they demanded money from people who couldn’t pay it back. Although Robodebt had the extra complication that they were demanding money with menace from people who didn’t actually owe the money, which would be illegal were it not for the fact that they’re a Coalition government and laws do not apply to them unless the AFP has a sudden urge to do something beyond raiding journalists, Labor senators and other enemies of the state or tweeting jokes.
No, some Arts graduates have no prospect of useful employment. Take Dan Tehan: He completed an Arts Degree with Honours and what possible job is he fit for outside politics… or inside politics, come to that.
Yes, all that rhetoric about our history being important and not pulling down statues because you can’t change history doesn’t apply when talking about studying history. Yes, we need to learn about and celebrate Western civilisation, but we can do that by looking at the statues of bygone colonial masters… And by masters, I don’t mean to suggest that they had slaves. Just people who understood the economics of “opportunity cost”, which means the benefits a person passes up when choosing one course of action over another. In the case of various explorers, this referred to the fact they were passing up the opportunity cost of staying in the comfort of their own land and working for a steady income. In the case of the various people who choose to work for the explorers in a total non-slavery way, the choice to work gave up the opportunity cost of being thrashed or shot.
But enough about economics because, like history, that’s one of the courses that’s going to cost more. Law degrees are also going up in cost.
It’s almost like the government doesn’t see the value of more people learning about history, economics and law…
I guess that’s because they’ve had so many people like Andrew Bolt and other Murdoch commentators who’ve managed to become experts in just about everything without actually obtaining a degree.
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30 comments
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Phil Pryor
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Rosemary J36
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Matters Not
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Michael Taylor
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Matters Not
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Jack sprat
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Andrew J. Smith
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Florence
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wam
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paul walter
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paul walter
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Terence Mills
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Phil Pryor
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johno
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Jack Cade
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Michael Taylor
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andy56
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Jack Cade
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Michael Taylor
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Rossleigh
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Michael Taylor
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Keitha Granville
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New England Cocky
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Matters Not
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Matters Not
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Whale oil beef hooked
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Stephengb
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paul walter
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Matters Not
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Phil
Return to home pageYou mentioned the Effing-Bolt person, an ignorant typing (one-handed) slob, too unco-ordinated, unmotivated, uncontrolled, unreliable, incapable of lasting the basic requirements of obtaining a degree. This low standard of turd, self inflated and old Euro-fascist in temperament and calling, is a disgrace to the nation, and shouls most certainly be Nauru material, if not deported as inferior. But, on jthe minister for ignorance’s announcemenbt, Mr Dan Perpetual-Teen, a trained (partly at public expense) arts graduate, has been slyly ordered to shut up the future flow of intelligent, essential free and uncommitted thinkers. What GARBAGE. This is the most outrageously IGNORANT act of politicial bastardry (actually) since what Morrison and his subnormalities do every day. Austrlai is bad enough without embracing stupidity as a policy, though so many conservative fascist-fraud types have done well here anyway. The STEM subjects have ranks of people worldwide being made obsolete, redundant, uselss unless expensively retrained. ONLY the LASS subjects (Literature, Arts, Social Sciences) keep civilistation alive. Real knowledge from real thinkers are opponets of conservatism, a real threat to shithead fascit types in pwer and eternally threatened. The pen and brush will remain mightier than the sword, tools and even computers used by mere operatives who need History to think about real THINKING.Only when the votes go for progress, community, betterment, fairness and honesty will the plague of superstition, religious irrationality, bumboy bliss and insider operatives die out and we move forward properly for ALL citizens. Otherwise, corporate controlled criminality will ruin us.
Without the thinkers, the artists, the musicians, the actors, the writers – life for many is meaningless. Money can provide you with material possessions but it does not make you a meaningful being.
Probably the ‘brains’ behind the attack on the ‘humanities’ is Professor Andrew Norton. As the attached link will show, he, ironically, began his academic career with a BA(Hons) from Monash. First came to prominence as a ministerial adviser to Dr David Kemp, from 1997 to 1999 and has been on the education policy making stage ever since. The Kemp family has a long history with the IPA. See link.
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kemp-charles-denton-ref-18187
Needless to say Norton ‘did time’ at the Centre for Independent Studies, as a research fellow and editor of its journal Policy. Clearly, Dan Tehan is way out of his depth in this portfolio and probably in any portfolio as we shall see in the weeks and months ahead. Remember his appearance on Insiders?
But this ‘brave new world’ will have to pass the Senate which might prove difficult even with the probable support of such learned Senators Lambie and Pauline. Most people will mistake an ‘Arts Degree’ with the fine arts such as painting and drawing and not with a broad general education. Such is life.
https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/norton-aj
My first Arts degree not only taught me how to think but it also changed my worldview.
Up until my late 30s I was mildly racist and sexist. Uni changed all that. It showed me how to walk in someone else’s shoes.
Re:
Perhaps that’s why the powers-that-be want to make change(s). It seems that UNIs are there for job preparation and not there to be ‘social engineers’. Education should not be about change. Etc … Lol.
“students who acquire large debts putting themselves through school are unlikely to think about changing society .When you trap people in a system of debt they can’t afford the time to think .Tuition fee increases are a disciplinary technique and by the time students graduate,they are not only loaded with debt ,but have internalized the disciplinarian culture.This makes them efficient components of the consumer economy ” Noam Chomsky
Matters Not, the IPA’s ideological influence via the Atlas Network has been the radical right libertarian and eugenics of the Kochs et al. who have always had (higher) education in their sights whether to demonise and nobble from the outside, or manipulate from the inside via the founding of ‘schools’ or ‘ research centres’, and/or simply regressive policies.
‘The Koch network says it wants to remake public education. That means destroying it, says the author of a new book on the billionaire brothers.’ (From the Washington Post, Oct 2019, the book referred to is ‘Kochland’, my next read, also same has been highlighted by Mayer in ‘Dark Money’, MacLean ‘Democracy in Chains’ etc.)
In some less developed nations, which Australia is starting to replicate, extreme or radical right politicians in coalitions always want defence, home affairs, and education…, knowing that control of curricula can influence children, youth and society for life…..
We can always correct the wrong that has been written.
History is like labor only worth knocking to sell advertising.
Arguably, HECS has been a disaster for education not only because it gave rapacious vice-chancellors access to government cash by swelling the ranks of teaching and nursing degrees with students who did not reach a standard that would achieve success at the course and at getting a job.but it also allowed the university to ‘collect’ students, functionally illiterate and enumerate into bridging courses In 2013 there were 200000+ teachers employed and 300000+ teachers unemployed. An old cynic has a theory that 300000 have a 4 year debt and vicechancellors have millions to play with.but the cynics may be missing something?
If the governments were serious they would pay school leavers to stay at school as aids with HECS reduction at 1:1 for a degree and 1:2 for a teaching degree. Similarly for school leavers and hospitals.
=
The real issue comes back to the stamping out of critical thinking, the ability to understand current affairs that involves body of knowledge and analytical skills that make sense of current affairs information.
They do not LIKE us knowing why ecological destruction is bad for the common future and how profits from destructive practices which have gained public acceptance in an information vacuum reinforce the grip of the criminal mentality on public opinion.
As stupid as we will be soon, we won’t understand why a feudalistic society has been created that renders knowledge and wisdom abstract concepts rather than the means to determine resources usage based on rational reasoning rather than the whims of pathological fantasists in propulsion toward an abyss by their own denialism and the denialism they foster throughout civilisation.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nsw-pushes-to-extend-murray-darling-water-recovery-deadline-20200619-p554b3.html
China is often criticised for being a centrally controlled economy with the government directing educational outcomes that suit the state.
Is that so very different to what’s happening in Australia ?
So is bruvver Tehan a socialist ?
As of this morning, Sun. (21/6/’20) a D Speers, a nobody with nothing known about him of value, but pushed up in government estimation onto ABC imperious position, has written a lying, bent, propaganda pro-government piece as an apoligist for the most ignorant, regressive, punitive type of poolitical filth in education this nation has seen. Disgraceful and deliberately misleading, the article attempts to soften criminality, by shrugging and dodging. What SHIT! Totally incapable, the minister, D Dopey-Teen, is unable to appear detached, with a finger up him from the Perverted Monster, our own Piltdown Man. It is social engineering of Stalinist odour. All higher education should be equal in opportunity, free, but cheap at least, supported by a helpful system, not punitive. And these filthy savages, undereducated and inadequate must go or be repressed NOW! As for Speers, a smear of shit on the ABC’s reputation. PISS OFF.
Michael,
Uni changed all that, If then most politicians went to uni, why aren’t they more worldly and compassionate ?
Phil Pryor
I just watched Speers badgering Bowen this morning, totally skating over the comment that Turnbull bragged about stacking branches to get elected in Wentworth and the fact that Scummo managed to get the opinion of 90% of the people in his local branches ignored to get pre-selected.
It was like a Sky interview in reverse.
The ABC is rooted. Absolutely traduced.
I used to watch ABC tv exclusively – now I barely watch it at all.
johno, perhaps they didn’t do any studies in Humanities.
Nonetheless, my university (UniSA) was doing whatever it could to stamp out racism and sexism.
Terence, to answer your question, go see the latest Rachel Maddow show. Trump is lining up voice of america to become a propaganda arm. He is putting his own nutters on levers of power. Dont think we are not moving down this path. remember radio australia and the news broadcast to the asia region? Transmitters closed down. Now we ship neighbors as australian cultural values via a Murdoch media outlet. All regional media outlets are disappearing as we speak.
Andy56
Voice of America is a CIA operation. The whole roof is seeing how empty UD rhetoric is, and the whole world is finding out that the USA has big weapons but small hands. The only war they have won since 1945 was against
mighty Grenada.
Having big nails is no bloody good if you
haven’t got a hammer.
Michael. Crows performance against the Gold Coast is..,erm…heartbreaking.
What is the emoji for ‘snigger snigger’?
The Voice of America is about to turn into a Trump mouthpiece. Everyone has been sacked – including all members of numerous boards – after a new Senate-approved boss was installed. What is also worrying is that this new boss was recommended by Steve Bannon. Sheesh.
Jack, what a wonderful day on the Gold Coast. Let’s hope it stays like that this evening. 😀
While I’m far from a fascist, I’ve always been bemused at being called « left-wing ». Still, I guess in Hitler’s Germany you’d have been considered a leftie if you’d suggested that Jews had rights too.
Rossleigh! You’re a bloody Leftie! 😳
TV commentators are dismal all round. But we have become recent converts to CNN, simply because most of the programs we have watched recently merlicessly bag their President. So they can’t be bad at all !
On topic – if students are choosing uni courses based on the cost, they are totally missing the point of higher education altogether.
I think it is a good idea to increase the uni fees for a Law degree because there are presently too many lawyers who do NOT know basic law or procedure and too many political appointments to the lower Courts from both sides, so that public confidence in the administration Justice is being undermined by politicians for the benefit of their mates and toadies.
And “Yes” I speak from hard earned experience.
AS for overpaid Vice Chancellors, that is a real hobby horse …..Dawkins the Destroyer has a lot to answer for.
Why is it that certain Nations can offer free tuition University courses (some) up to and including Masters level – not only for their own nationals but for any others who care to enroll?
The answer is pretty simple. They don’t sell off their natural resources (oil and gas) to multi-nationals. Instead they retain ownership and put returns/profits into sovereign wealth funds. Yep, they don’t have ideological hang-ups about public ownership. Perhaps we could learn from them. Look at what we are doing with ‘gas’. Look at what we are doing with our Lithium deposits. etc.
While we virtually give away our natural resources we refuse to ‘invest’ in our people. Saddle them with un-necessary debt. And all for ideological reasons. Talk about dumb!
Never a good idea to increase fees for any higher education course – including Law – even though the vast bulk of those who study same will never ‘practice’ in a Court or be employed as Lawyers. We live in a world governed or regulated by the Rule of Law. Surely we would want as many as possible to have a good grasp of legal concepts.
Employed any number of people with legal backgrounds whose skills are readily transferable to so many other areas of social and or economic life. Try policy development as a starter. Indeed just as transferable as the over-rated STEM subjects (important as they are). Look at the rates of the unemployed in the various disciplines and you will find no long-term variations of any significance.
Or should we be charging fees for secondary education? If not – then why not?
China is often criticized for being a centrally controlled economy with the government directing educational outcomes that suit the state.
Is that so very different to what’s happening in Australia ?
Yes well, Terence Mill , when has that not been the case in Australia!?
Our gangster criminals know as their hero prototypes Hitler and the Catholic Church, that you have to purge the intellectuals in order to exerciser total control, for the proletariat to be absolutely tractable to their dictates.
Its is very simple folks,” Control the mind and you control the body” the ultimate slavery!!!!!
You good folks will have noticed that the Australian Government is in lock step with Washington on this issue as with many others.
This is pure and utter treason, our governments policies are coming straight out of Washington and those responsible should be gaoled, have their assets seized by the people and deported and to never return to Australia on the pain of death.
Write to the ganster criminals, flood their in boxes with vehement protest, let them know there will be serious consequences for them if they do not come to heel. Let them know they have skin in the game and they are going to be skinned.
Lets bring Democracy and the rule of law to Australia, it is an imperative that cannot wait.!!!!!!
Someone above said something like :-
If Arts graduates as so good at critical thinking and such – why is it that the majority of our so called political class (who are largely Arts degree graduate) are unable to understand humanity?
Actually they are mostly lawyers and bean-counters.
Seems I was wrong about the Norton speculation. This latest stuff-up is ‘Norton free’ – something Tehan is doing with a new set of advisers. Or is it a cunning plot? Deliberately designed to be so bad that it’s bound to fail
Worth reading the complete article.
Words like the Arts and humanities should not be mentioned in the same sentence, as Tories. History for Tories, is remembering what year they got elected for pension purposes. As for speaking other languages pigs can only grunt. Some one like Morrison would think ‘ Wuthering Heights ” is a block of flats. They would think Plato is the name of name of a night club. Albert Schweitzer would be the local house painter. Indeed any culture for these Philistines could only be found in a Petri dish labelled A strain of botulism. Having been a professional muso for over forty years, I can safely say I could count the times on one hand I’ve met a Tory musician. There are exceptions, I have played in some country towns where the yokels think that an A minor flat is achieved by dropping a piano down a mine shaft. They think Bach is something you find on a fking gum tree. Some of the juke boxes in the back of Bourke still have Al Jolson on the play list.There are only two types of music known to these numb nuts Country & Western. Tories, how I hate them let me count the ways.