The woke mob are "fallen" professionals who invested time, money and effort into gaining access to a club that will no longer admit them. No wonder they are angry.
Ten or twelve years ago I read ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education’. An eMag aimed at college grads. An English Lit prof was retiring. He taught senior level PhD program courses. He said incredulously he had personally graduated 500 PhDs in Eng Lit. He said all his cohort were the same. He said practically all he ever needed was to graduate one in his last year. He said none of them worked as he did. They all taught school, or sold real estate. I thought ‘it took you forty years to catch onto that?’ The online responses floored me. They were angry. People with $200,000 in debt, no job, no prospects. Really devastated people. Furious at the lies they had been told.
When I looked at the Black Bloc, or the people who took over part of Portland as the "CHAZ", or the Cop City protesters in Georgia, or the Occupiers of Wall Street (actually, Zuccoti Park), I wondered, "Do these people have jobs? If so, what are those jobs?" As near as I can make out, they do have jobs but regard themselves as underemployed. Jenny Holland would call them fallen professionals, degreed people working in non-degreed jobs. Next question: What is their marital status? Do they have children or not?
I'm not sure I would call the those guys 'fallen professionals' -- although I'd bet a lot of them are. I mean, if they are the fallen, by the time they get to CHAZ type activism, I think there are other categories that are more salient for them. Like extremist, terrorist, etc 🤣
Let us never forget that Hitler was an art school reject and Pol Pot went to the Sorbonne.
Yes, you're right. The people I'm talking about may regard themselves as underemployed, low on the socioeconomic totem pole, but they aren't necessarily formerly aspiring professionals. The few whose occupations I have been able to discover tend to hold low level administrative jobs. A better example of the fallen professionals would be the adjuncts who now do most college teaching. They didn't get their advanced degrees in the hope of low pay, no benefits and no job security. More likely, they were hoping for six-figure, tenured professorships, hopes which have been thoroughly dashed.
Bravo! I was in a several-years-long panic after I graduated from college with a degree in English and Political Science. I ended up having to go back for a Masters before I was able to get a "real" job that differed in any way from the clerical jobs I had always been stuck with even before I graduated from college. Had I not married someone with excellent software engineering skills who was able to earn a great salary from a series of corporations, I might still be saddled with the bills for my overpriced and professionally pointless "education."
It's really crazy. I did a Masters thinking it would increase my appeal on the job market, where I already had a pretty robust CV. And I *never* worked full time in my field ever again afterward. It wasn't all the fault of the MA (life also happened) but it was very hard to come terms with how things shook out, given the financial cost. Academia has so much to answer for.
Now for the real migration! Just like the Aryans of yore, you gotta leave this pop stand! The little shits want a government gravy job and it ain’t happen’n! Nobody wants what you are selling! Go! Get on your horse and go! Drink of the Cup of Imagination! A revolution ain’t gonna make you rich! Here’s a plan! Pool your money, find an abandoned town ( there are lots of them) bring a hundred people, start farming, rebuild the houses, sell them cheap, start a school and make babies! Then make it a corporation and sell the stock! Buy guns and find another abandoned town! Elect radical leftists who will turn all your work to a shithole!
Fantastic piece. I love that Substack is introducing me to astute people like you who I might never have otherwise heard of.
I'm so glad to hear that -- it really makes my day! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thank you Jenny. You always explain things so clearly. This is an excellent analysis.
Thank you!
Ten or twelve years ago I read ‘The Chronicle of Higher Education’. An eMag aimed at college grads. An English Lit prof was retiring. He taught senior level PhD program courses. He said incredulously he had personally graduated 500 PhDs in Eng Lit. He said all his cohort were the same. He said practically all he ever needed was to graduate one in his last year. He said none of them worked as he did. They all taught school, or sold real estate. I thought ‘it took you forty years to catch onto that?’ The online responses floored me. They were angry. People with $200,000 in debt, no job, no prospects. Really devastated people. Furious at the lies they had been told.
Excellent piece!
When I looked at the Black Bloc, or the people who took over part of Portland as the "CHAZ", or the Cop City protesters in Georgia, or the Occupiers of Wall Street (actually, Zuccoti Park), I wondered, "Do these people have jobs? If so, what are those jobs?" As near as I can make out, they do have jobs but regard themselves as underemployed. Jenny Holland would call them fallen professionals, degreed people working in non-degreed jobs. Next question: What is their marital status? Do they have children or not?
I'm not sure I would call the those guys 'fallen professionals' -- although I'd bet a lot of them are. I mean, if they are the fallen, by the time they get to CHAZ type activism, I think there are other categories that are more salient for them. Like extremist, terrorist, etc 🤣
Let us never forget that Hitler was an art school reject and Pol Pot went to the Sorbonne.
Yes, you're right. The people I'm talking about may regard themselves as underemployed, low on the socioeconomic totem pole, but they aren't necessarily formerly aspiring professionals. The few whose occupations I have been able to discover tend to hold low level administrative jobs. A better example of the fallen professionals would be the adjuncts who now do most college teaching. They didn't get their advanced degrees in the hope of low pay, no benefits and no job security. More likely, they were hoping for six-figure, tenured professorships, hopes which have been thoroughly dashed.
Peter Turchin has explored "elite overproduction" at length. It even has its own Wiki article now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_overproduction
Bravo! I was in a several-years-long panic after I graduated from college with a degree in English and Political Science. I ended up having to go back for a Masters before I was able to get a "real" job that differed in any way from the clerical jobs I had always been stuck with even before I graduated from college. Had I not married someone with excellent software engineering skills who was able to earn a great salary from a series of corporations, I might still be saddled with the bills for my overpriced and professionally pointless "education."
It's really crazy. I did a Masters thinking it would increase my appeal on the job market, where I already had a pretty robust CV. And I *never* worked full time in my field ever again afterward. It wasn't all the fault of the MA (life also happened) but it was very hard to come terms with how things shook out, given the financial cost. Academia has so much to answer for.
Now for the real migration! Just like the Aryans of yore, you gotta leave this pop stand! The little shits want a government gravy job and it ain’t happen’n! Nobody wants what you are selling! Go! Get on your horse and go! Drink of the Cup of Imagination! A revolution ain’t gonna make you rich! Here’s a plan! Pool your money, find an abandoned town ( there are lots of them) bring a hundred people, start farming, rebuild the houses, sell them cheap, start a school and make babies! Then make it a corporation and sell the stock! Buy guns and find another abandoned town! Elect radical leftists who will turn all your work to a shithole!
I’ve watched some of those clips. As a teacher, I’d like to formally announce something that I’m sure NONE of you know.
These people are not educated.
God, I’m so insightful…