Aug 4, 2022·edited Aug 4, 2022Liked by Tess Lawrie, MBBCh, PhD
Hi Tess,
A personal taste of academia in Japan, a long and convoluted read (my bad), but resigning in protest from a tenured position is proving to be a fairly accurate mandlebrot fractal of what the ruling class has been planning for all of us ... and now something I take for granted as beneath the glossy sheen of Japan Inc.
For those without the time or interest for a long read, just 7 years ago, I was a tenured Associate Professor at a less than competitive Women's College in Tokyo ... but had published and presented original research in three countries (Motivating students through Event-Driven curriculums), was popular among students, and involved in many community outreach activities supporting the homeless, the severely handicapped, kindergarten children, etc.
Now, I am living off of a shrink-flation pension, supplemented by minimum wage part-time work for public schools in West Tokyo ... often just the token foreigner taking orders from public school teachers who had not yet been born when I started my academic career in Japan.
While my first girlfriend back in the states was a Japanese exchange student who eventually did honors work for Prof. Susumu Kuno (he can be found on Wikipedia)... then the head of Harvard's Linguistics Department, I challenge anyone to name one academic of international status in any Japanese academic institution.
And a small bit of 'business' news that I posted to my F.book page ...
It appears Japan Inc. is in a bit of a business conundrum.
If, according to the Mainichi News, on behalf of the taxpaying public, the national govt. has bought 40 billion yen worth of vaccines from Moderna, Phizer, and Astrazeneca ... that is about 300 million dollars, the details of which are not available to the public.
But also according to the Mainichi news, the first of 800 families, and growing, was just awarded $324,000.00 ... that is the going price for a vaccine-snuffed life according to the courts. But totaling 800 families ... and growing, that comes to about 260 million dollars ... also tax payer's money.
Wonderful perspectives and work thanks Steven. I've intuited for a while an inevitable implosion of the madness for many reasons, which in my universes (another story, the nature of reality :) is happening in magically horrific and beautiful ways.
Read your description, and just now subscribed ... some of the word choices reminded me of Gabor Maté, medical doctor and volunteer activist for the addicted which make up much of the homeless community in Vancouver ... and father of rising journalist Aaron Maté.
I am just now trying to get a feel for substack, making videos and voice recordings ... but will be a fledgling for awhile.
Something along the lines of my mindset, though not entirely, is this fascinating last interview of Terence McKenna's last interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdEKhIk-8Gg Have listened a couple of times now, and will eventually settle down and analyze what he says through my own lens ... particularly triangulating reads of Bret and Heather's 'A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century', the now infamous Yuval Harari's 'Sapiens', and my own life's journey.
Steve thanks, wow, lovely words. Yes I know some of Gabor Maté's work and mostly admire it hugely (The Wisdom of Trauma movie and some related teachings, and some videos and book summaries; I've yet to read his books). I didn't know of his son Aaron's work thanks. I'll explore your other pointers too. Harari/Sapiens certainly interest me. I'm especially drawn to people such as Stephen Jenkinson orphanwisdom.com (Die Wise, etc), Graham Williams ('Story Bridging', ancient wisdom, compassion/quantum, 'Halo and the Noose'), critical psychiatry, nutritional psychiatry, and the people/works featured on LiveWildLiveFree.org. Most of my recent writings are at https://Businessballs.com/blog and my 'story', as best as I can tell it presently, at https://alanchapman.com/music. I'm extremely grateful you asked because you prompted me to improve my wording there, and also to remove the password protection from the page and set it free :) Enjoy yourself in your own brilliant work, thanks for your magical contact, and cheers from Leicestershire UK :)
Me? Brilliant? Maybe the shiny part of a broadsword, but not the cutting edge. Not yet anyway. Much thanks for the encouraging empowerment though.
Just now finishing a check through morning mail, so will keep it brief for the time being ... but you have a fascinating spread of key words, even if I don't yet recognize the names.
But before I close my eyes for another hour or so of an early morning nap before I have that first cup of coffee, I have GOT to check out the link including the word 'music' in it. At times, that has been the only thing to keep me sane if not suicidal.
Will be checking back with you soon, probably today Japan time.
Cheers Alan, and much thanks for he humanizing exchanges here!
Looks like you linked to a private substack page. I clicked on the link and it said,
"You're logged in as xyx@xyz.com, but this page is private. Try logging in with a different email, or letting the author know they've linked to a private page."
I tried getting a link, but that didn't work either. If you're trying to build readership, this is off to a bad start, hehe.
Kim G thanks for your time and care. In my experience (although each of us makes our own universes) nothing is wasted and everything is for a reason :) Lots of love to you, Alan
Thank you for yet another illuminating article. I became aware that academic institutions were captured several years ago, but I never knew how bad it was.
It might be controversial to say this, but Covid has exposed the rot in many institutions, and in pushing unscientific agendas and propoganda with no sound scientific basis these corrupt establishmeets have inadvertently woken many people up to the truth. I believe this is a good thing.
Maybe when people realise the reality that we work endless hours, indebt ourselves under the illusion that education always improves career prospects, and recognise that we tire ourselves out for material things, to keep up with the Jones's, and invariably to enrich the fat cats at the top of the food chain whom will not hesitate to strip you of your freedoms and rights on command (vaccine mandates) or cast you aside when you are ill, you begin to question who you are working for and why. I'm not judging anyone in this situation, and not all companies are the same, but it is a good time to reflect on what you really want in life and consider choosing a career that brings you genuine happiness and joy. Most independent employers actually value hard work and determination over academic qualifications. If no opportunities comes up in your chosen field, seek out opportunities or look at vocational education which can open many doors. Start living life for you and by your values. Just my thoughts.
I believe something good can come from all of this and that in time we will witness the great awakening over the great reset.
Covid has revealed much to my family. We are parents to four children, the eldest of which starts his junior year of high school in a couple of weeks. He has high academic aspirations. We live in Virginia, and over the years, especially now, we have begun to advocate for college choices that might be less woke, but what I’m saying now is that with a few exceptions, that is an oxymoron. Places like Hillsdale or Liberty come to mind. The eldest will be very hard to sway from his aspirations of UVA or Washington and Lee, William and Mary, etc. We, his parents, are ultimately footing much of the bill, so we have the final say, of course.
In 1995, I chose an out of state private school where tuition was $23k per year, a mind-numbing amount at that time. My parents agreed to pay the going rate for IN-state public tuition at the time, and after some scholarships, I ended up with a debt of $35,000 for the four years.
My 3-year masters degree in healthcare at an in-state School was dirt cheap, and I only added about $6000 of debt for that program.
It took selling our first house to pay all of that off. But today, tuition has doubled. I am really not sure how to best research or advise my children. We talk openly in our home about the Covid debacle, the horrible Covid vaccine, as well as all facets of woke culture. Kids must eventually form their own opinions, though right now, they are very much in agreement with us. I’m speaking mainly of my two teenagers. Will begin inviting my younger two children into the conversation soonish. We invite discussion and are hoping to help them think critically through some of the sewage they are presented with on a daily basis.
How would you advise parents like me when it comes to higher education prospects for educating our children? While I’d love to encourage a trade and skipping college altogether, some of our children will really to go the full university route.
It sounds like you and your family are very close which is absolutely wonderful. :)
It sounds as though you are in the States. Education and employment is quite different over there compared to here so I'm probably not the best person to give advice. If I'm not mistaken, you don't get annual holiday entitlement as a given, I think internships are unpaid, and I believe most people want a job with benefits. I might be wrong. I suspect if this is this case, these factors also need to be weighed up.
The vaccine mandates have been outrageous. If you have children who are in a position where they have to comply with a mandate to go to university, you could have a discussion about delaying the decision for a year to see how things develop on that front. No one should be forced to take an experimental drug to go to work or university. I personally believe there is enough information available on the harms associated with these injections now. You have to ask if an education is worth the risk. To me, there is no greater wealth than health.
Another option could be a part time job and part-time uni for year 1 in hopes the vaccine mandates get dropped. I know that takes away the social side which sucks but it could be a compromise. In some countries around the world, vaccine mandates have been deemed illegal and the fight continues still.
I did my first science degree part-time whilst working full time. The online community I had was amazing and we regularly met in person at events or organised socials. I'm not sure what opportunities would be available for field trips etc though given the mandates. You would have to discuss the pros and cons of each option. It's useful to list them so you can visually weight it up too.
All I know in my heart is that it is drummed into us that we have to work hard in school, go to college, go to university, get married, have kids, buy a house, get promoted, climb the ladder and so on. I broke this mould for a while. I worked and learned at the same time. I did take time out to do another degree in later life and I didn't much like the traditional experience compared to the distance experience randomly but then my first university were the absolute best - they gave me the best education of all and at a fraction of the price of a bricks and mortar university. They taught me to be a good ethical scientist too.
I spent the last five years putting together what I thought would be the perfect life, I got the 'dream job' and 'salary'. In reality I was working 20 excess hours a week on top of my full-time job to make it happen and when I had 'it all', it made me miserable. I loved what I did but I hated working long hours, many of which I worked for free. I stopped seeing my family, stopped going out with friends, stopped spending quality time with my other half, and stopped volunteering. It became all consuming. And that was followed by two years of lockdowns which imposed the same conundrum of not seeing friends and family! In my mind, time with family is the most precious thing in the world.
Covid really shook me awake. I was part of an employment system that really implemented strict rules on Covid with perverse narratives. I could see clearly these were not grounded in good quality evidence-based science and that they were causing distress and harm. I tried to stand up against it but was labelled a heretic who was okay with grandmas dying! I decided to just walk away. And I did.
I took another job to make ends meet and was treated like a child by my boss for my decision to decline the injection! I have always been a hard working person with a solid work ethic who has always gone above and beyond in all that I do. That situation really crushed me and I lived with the worry that I could be sacked at any time, especially at a time when the press pushed constant propoganda toward the unvaccinated, when mandates and vaccine passports loomed and were rolling out globally, and our Prime Minister stated that we should 'have a discussion about the unvaccinated'. I was traumatised by the whole event but I know I was luckier than most in that it never was mandated for me to keep my job. I weep some nights for those whom have been forced against their will.
This situation has really made me question whom I work for in future. And I have decided that I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect for the choices I am legally and ethically entitled to make.
I am now working on clearing the last of all money owed for the debt I incurred from my education, and as a result of lockdown policies, and I am planning to build a better life by working for myself. I plan to set up my own business and I plan to put together some community programmes to try and reconnect people to hopefully repair what has been broken.
The past two years have been the worst of my life (as it has been for many others) and I would never wish to relive them, however, it is strange to say it has also been a blessing. For the first time in a long time I am fully awake. I have been to hell and back and I have come out of it. I sold my soul to what is marketed as 'The American Dream' for a while in the hope it would make me happy but learned that is a system designed to make us good consumers, to trap us in a debt cycle that we must work continuously to resolve. For me, it impacted creativity, time with my family and friends, and stopped me paying attention to what I really want in life.
Nowadays, I grow my own food and make plenty of things from scratch, I don't watch TV - I read books instead, I don't listen to the mainstream media anymore, I seldom buy anything in terms of commodities, I buy my clothes from charity shops now and donate them back next season, and I am living more altruistically and more sustainably. More importantly I have quality time with my family now. For the first time in a long time, I feel like the person I am supposed to be and things can only get better going forward, I'm committed to that.
I didn't mean to share my life story with you here but I hope it can offer another perspective.
In hindsight, the greatest lesson I have learned is to be true to myself and follow my authentic dreams rather than the false illusion of 'The American Dream'. However, I also have to make sensible decisions going forward to make sure that my plans are financially viable too, especially with inflation and some rocky roads ahead with the fiat system of currency. Its a work in progress and a constant learning cycle but I am not going to let these things drain me of my creativity. I just need to keep re-adapting the plan as events unfold. My goal going forward is to avoid debt and accumulate money to cover the tough times whilst living life as organically as possible.
These are just my personal thoughts. You all have to weigh up your own personal values and goals and decide what you want going forward and then find a way to make it financially viable.
They’re being used as money-laundering operations in the US as well. Lots of federal government money pours into universities, and lots of political donations pour out, pretty much all to one party.
It’s a giant scam. The ratio of “administrative staff” to professors says it all.
I believe a book has just been released by an author in America exposing this system. I forget the name, sorry. It is something like The College Illusion. I haven't read it as I'm in the UK but I've seen American's recommending it as a must read.
Aug 5, 2022·edited Aug 5, 2022Liked by Tess Lawrie, MBBCh, PhD
My view is probably treasonous within academic circles. But for a long time I have been quite concerned with over specialization of roles within society. This concern also refers to the number of those chasing PhDs and most of the academic heirarchy.
I saw how specialization has been promoted and at times it certainly has merits to be top of a field. But generalists, autodidacts and or renaissance men are also very important.
The more I learn about managing systems and the integration of business systems, or within holistic health models too, the more it becomes apparent that it's often the way an issue occurs in x and presents as a problem in x, but often in y and z also.
And that it is essential to understand how other systems are affected and how all systems work together to produce a functioning whole. To correctly diagnose and treat an issue. Otherwise we can and often tunnel vision on fixing x. Then we see y suffer and z collapse.
"I suggest that young people really tap into their intuition when considering university courses at this time, and consider the full array of life’s options."
Yes and yes and yes. Time for a total rehaul in so many ways and higher education (lately sounds like an oxymoron) is clearly one of them. (Particularly in light of their being used to propagandize and politicize as we've seen with Covid. They've shown, and Mark Crispin Miller's story is a perfect example, how its become all about the money.)
Tess, thank you for this valuable message. Things are worse than I even imagined. We shall have to have our own universities ready for when the first children graduate from schools that awakened (not woke) parents like Mikki Willis & wife are setting up. Also it will be exhilarating to have real thinkers in our midst, perhaps for the first time in history since the pre-Socratic philosophers. Human beings that have not been intellectually ruined and morally corrupted by the education they have undergone. Real lovers of wisdom and poets, the deepest thinkers of all. The previous system was cradled by the church, let's never forget that. It has been moribund from birth, sometime in the Middle Ages. We've never had the real thing yet and we are going to get it now. Again, it's exhilarating.
I went to junior college. I am not brainwashed. (I know I probably am, at some levels, which is actually a good sign I am fighting false ideas).
My family went to top, or near top universities. ( in eyes of most). They're all Very brainwashed on the DeATHVAX... They all took it, and bitch about my "conspiracy theories". Bowing down to CIA language as they speak.
Piss on Harvard, Oxford, Georgetown. Go Westchester Community College!
¨Commercial airline pilots are speaking up more than ever about vaccine injuries and the “hostile” environment that unvaccinated and vaccine-injured pilots must endure.
Australian Captain Glen Waters was employed with Virgin Australia Airlines. After 20 years of exemplary service, Virgin terminated his employment. Why? Because he declined the Covid “vaccine.”
The biggest irony of this is that Australian aviators who did exactly what good aviators should do – think critically, assess risk and make safe decisions – were the ones whom the airlines, regulator and government punished and sacked. These aviators worked out that new risks were being introduced into flying that simply should never have been allowed, and so they resisted. Now, their assessments are being proven right as pilot vaccine injury increases.
Cpt. Waters dreamed of becoming a pilot from a young age. In high school, he flew gliders and in 1987 he began to realise his dream when he started training to become an airline pilot. He worked for Virgin Australia for 20 years, 19 of those as a captain.
On 16 September 2021 Virgin Australia announced it will require all its staff to be “vaccinated against Covid-19,” in line with domestic rival Qantas Airways and a growing number of airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. Pilots, cabin crew and airport workers were instructed they had to be fully vaccinated by 15 November.
In April 2022, on the 20th anniversary of his employment with the company, Virgin sent Cpt. Waters an email terminating his employment for “serious misconduct.” What was Cpt. Waters’ serious misconduct? He assessed the risks and made a rational, safe decision – not to be injected with a Covid “vaccine.”
The day after he was fired and still reeling from the shock of Virgin’s unjust action, Cpt. Waters spoke with Hoody, host of Hoody’s Heroes, about the circumstances leading up to his termination as well as his plans for the future. You can watch their discussion on Rumble by clicking on the image below.
When asked by Hoody what his plans were for the future, Cpt. Waters answered: “I am going to look after my fellow employees for a while because there’re a lot of desperate situations there. Somebody’s supposed to be looking after them. It wasn’t supposed to be me but we’re getting together to help each other because there’re quite some sad, sorry stories out there.”
Cpt. Waters is now advocating for pilots who were coerced into taking “vaccines” and injured as a result. In an interview with The Defender in June, Cpt. Waters said the injured pilots are scared of talking about their injury because they will be labelled “anti-vaxxers” and be discriminated against and/or have their employment terminated.
Virgin Australia is not allowing injured pilots to speak out, Cpt. Waters said, because “the company is actively trying to terminate anyone reporting vaccine injury.” He told The Defender that 900 pilots from Virgin Australia can no longer fly because they are suffering from medical complications post-Covid injection. “No doubt there are many more who are continuing to fly with troubling symptoms,” he said.
One captain had a stroke and went blind and another healthy captain had a sudden heart attack and fell down the boarding stairs. Formerly healthy pilots now report headaches, chest pains and shortness of breath, Cpt. Waters said. “I have heard [about cases of] tinnitus, vertigo and brain fog, including temporary blindness, in some crew. Disrupted menstrual cycles are reported frequently, perhaps affecting dozens [of employees].” Many of these issues are not even recognised as adverse events to the vaccine, even though the health issues are coming in waves, post-vaccination.¨
There was a comment about an excessive admin staff in academia (who need a reason to exist,, so they invent problems) who are essentially busy drones who do no useful work.
Don't we see a similar problem in govt. and in health care? That might be worth a post.
Completely agree about the 'new lows' ... looks like academia has gone the way of the media. Should we now start using terms like 'corporate academia' ?
Also, in this article there appears to be a typo... HART should perhaps be HARE?
Yes. Absolutely right. Universities don't teach the things that we've forgotten as 'modern' civilisations. Schools generally feed the debt machine with our children.
Hi Tess,
A personal taste of academia in Japan, a long and convoluted read (my bad), but resigning in protest from a tenured position is proving to be a fairly accurate mandlebrot fractal of what the ruling class has been planning for all of us ... and now something I take for granted as beneath the glossy sheen of Japan Inc.
For those without the time or interest for a long read, just 7 years ago, I was a tenured Associate Professor at a less than competitive Women's College in Tokyo ... but had published and presented original research in three countries (Motivating students through Event-Driven curriculums), was popular among students, and involved in many community outreach activities supporting the homeless, the severely handicapped, kindergarten children, etc.
Now, I am living off of a shrink-flation pension, supplemented by minimum wage part-time work for public schools in West Tokyo ... often just the token foreigner taking orders from public school teachers who had not yet been born when I started my academic career in Japan.
While my first girlfriend back in the states was a Japanese exchange student who eventually did honors work for Prof. Susumu Kuno (he can be found on Wikipedia)... then the head of Harvard's Linguistics Department, I challenge anyone to name one academic of international status in any Japanese academic institution.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-you-banned-from-Why/answer/Steven-Steve-F-Martin
Wow.
Just tried to edit the Quora post for clarity, and found Quora would not accept even a shortened version because now, 'It is too long'.
So I copy pasted a corrected version to my new substack here ...
https://steven45.substack.com/publish/post/67141291
And a small bit of 'business' news that I posted to my F.book page ...
It appears Japan Inc. is in a bit of a business conundrum.
If, according to the Mainichi News, on behalf of the taxpaying public, the national govt. has bought 40 billion yen worth of vaccines from Moderna, Phizer, and Astrazeneca ... that is about 300 million dollars, the details of which are not available to the public.
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20220507/ddm/002/010/126000c
But also according to the Mainichi news, the first of 800 families, and growing, was just awarded $324,000.00 ... that is the going price for a vaccine-snuffed life according to the courts. But totaling 800 families ... and growing, that comes to about 260 million dollars ... also tax payer's money.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/covid-19-vaccine-compensation-payment-given-to-family-of-japanese-woman-who-died_4635730.html?utm_source=ccpvnoe&utm_campaign=2022-08-02&utm_medium=email&est=P14xKtA9TqxGj7nppTzhKL4BDdOoJocXGDRasCHSregGXqC2QI04fOv20w%3D%3D
What to do?
Raise taxes on the cost of living?
Print another trillion or so of emergency fiat currency?
More mainstream 'news' to nudge the population to get the jab and keep the adverse events payoffs to a minimum?
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
It's tough being a ''business man'' in the new world order.
Cheers Tess!
steve
Wonderful perspectives and work thanks Steven. I've intuited for a while an inevitable implosion of the madness for many reasons, which in my universes (another story, the nature of reality :) is happening in magically horrific and beautiful ways.
Hi Alan, and thanks!
Would love to hear your story.
Read your description, and just now subscribed ... some of the word choices reminded me of Gabor Maté, medical doctor and volunteer activist for the addicted which make up much of the homeless community in Vancouver ... and father of rising journalist Aaron Maté.
I am just now trying to get a feel for substack, making videos and voice recordings ... but will be a fledgling for awhile.
Something along the lines of my mindset, though not entirely, is this fascinating last interview of Terence McKenna's last interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdEKhIk-8Gg Have listened a couple of times now, and will eventually settle down and analyze what he says through my own lens ... particularly triangulating reads of Bret and Heather's 'A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century', the now infamous Yuval Harari's 'Sapiens', and my own life's journey.
Cheers from Japan Alan,
steve
Steve thanks, wow, lovely words. Yes I know some of Gabor Maté's work and mostly admire it hugely (The Wisdom of Trauma movie and some related teachings, and some videos and book summaries; I've yet to read his books). I didn't know of his son Aaron's work thanks. I'll explore your other pointers too. Harari/Sapiens certainly interest me. I'm especially drawn to people such as Stephen Jenkinson orphanwisdom.com (Die Wise, etc), Graham Williams ('Story Bridging', ancient wisdom, compassion/quantum, 'Halo and the Noose'), critical psychiatry, nutritional psychiatry, and the people/works featured on LiveWildLiveFree.org. Most of my recent writings are at https://Businessballs.com/blog and my 'story', as best as I can tell it presently, at https://alanchapman.com/music. I'm extremely grateful you asked because you prompted me to improve my wording there, and also to remove the password protection from the page and set it free :) Enjoy yourself in your own brilliant work, thanks for your magical contact, and cheers from Leicestershire UK :)
Hi again Alan.
Me? Brilliant? Maybe the shiny part of a broadsword, but not the cutting edge. Not yet anyway. Much thanks for the encouraging empowerment though.
Just now finishing a check through morning mail, so will keep it brief for the time being ... but you have a fascinating spread of key words, even if I don't yet recognize the names.
But before I close my eyes for another hour or so of an early morning nap before I have that first cup of coffee, I have GOT to check out the link including the word 'music' in it. At times, that has been the only thing to keep me sane if not suicidal.
Will be checking back with you soon, probably today Japan time.
Cheers Alan, and much thanks for he humanizing exchanges here!
— steve
Looks like you linked to a private substack page. I clicked on the link and it said,
"You're logged in as xyx@xyz.com, but this page is private. Try logging in with a different email, or letting the author know they've linked to a private page."
I tried getting a link, but that didn't work either. If you're trying to build readership, this is off to a bad start, hehe.
Cheers,
Kim G
Roma Sur, Mexico City, 4 Aug 2022 10:19 PM CDT
LOL.
Thanks Kim. Back to the drawing board to figure this thing out.
Kim G thanks for your time and care. In my experience (although each of us makes our own universes) nothing is wasted and everything is for a reason :) Lots of love to you, Alan
Thank you for yet another illuminating article. I became aware that academic institutions were captured several years ago, but I never knew how bad it was.
It might be controversial to say this, but Covid has exposed the rot in many institutions, and in pushing unscientific agendas and propoganda with no sound scientific basis these corrupt establishmeets have inadvertently woken many people up to the truth. I believe this is a good thing.
Maybe when people realise the reality that we work endless hours, indebt ourselves under the illusion that education always improves career prospects, and recognise that we tire ourselves out for material things, to keep up with the Jones's, and invariably to enrich the fat cats at the top of the food chain whom will not hesitate to strip you of your freedoms and rights on command (vaccine mandates) or cast you aside when you are ill, you begin to question who you are working for and why. I'm not judging anyone in this situation, and not all companies are the same, but it is a good time to reflect on what you really want in life and consider choosing a career that brings you genuine happiness and joy. Most independent employers actually value hard work and determination over academic qualifications. If no opportunities comes up in your chosen field, seek out opportunities or look at vocational education which can open many doors. Start living life for you and by your values. Just my thoughts.
I believe something good can come from all of this and that in time we will witness the great awakening over the great reset.
Agree with you 100 percent, Lee
Absolutely.
Covid has revealed much to my family. We are parents to four children, the eldest of which starts his junior year of high school in a couple of weeks. He has high academic aspirations. We live in Virginia, and over the years, especially now, we have begun to advocate for college choices that might be less woke, but what I’m saying now is that with a few exceptions, that is an oxymoron. Places like Hillsdale or Liberty come to mind. The eldest will be very hard to sway from his aspirations of UVA or Washington and Lee, William and Mary, etc. We, his parents, are ultimately footing much of the bill, so we have the final say, of course.
In 1995, I chose an out of state private school where tuition was $23k per year, a mind-numbing amount at that time. My parents agreed to pay the going rate for IN-state public tuition at the time, and after some scholarships, I ended up with a debt of $35,000 for the four years.
My 3-year masters degree in healthcare at an in-state School was dirt cheap, and I only added about $6000 of debt for that program.
It took selling our first house to pay all of that off. But today, tuition has doubled. I am really not sure how to best research or advise my children. We talk openly in our home about the Covid debacle, the horrible Covid vaccine, as well as all facets of woke culture. Kids must eventually form their own opinions, though right now, they are very much in agreement with us. I’m speaking mainly of my two teenagers. Will begin inviting my younger two children into the conversation soonish. We invite discussion and are hoping to help them think critically through some of the sewage they are presented with on a daily basis.
How would you advise parents like me when it comes to higher education prospects for educating our children? While I’d love to encourage a trade and skipping college altogether, some of our children will really to go the full university route.
It sounds like you are already doing a great job, having open conversations with your family and encouraging critical thinking.
It sounds like you and your family are very close which is absolutely wonderful. :)
It sounds as though you are in the States. Education and employment is quite different over there compared to here so I'm probably not the best person to give advice. If I'm not mistaken, you don't get annual holiday entitlement as a given, I think internships are unpaid, and I believe most people want a job with benefits. I might be wrong. I suspect if this is this case, these factors also need to be weighed up.
The vaccine mandates have been outrageous. If you have children who are in a position where they have to comply with a mandate to go to university, you could have a discussion about delaying the decision for a year to see how things develop on that front. No one should be forced to take an experimental drug to go to work or university. I personally believe there is enough information available on the harms associated with these injections now. You have to ask if an education is worth the risk. To me, there is no greater wealth than health.
Another option could be a part time job and part-time uni for year 1 in hopes the vaccine mandates get dropped. I know that takes away the social side which sucks but it could be a compromise. In some countries around the world, vaccine mandates have been deemed illegal and the fight continues still.
I did my first science degree part-time whilst working full time. The online community I had was amazing and we regularly met in person at events or organised socials. I'm not sure what opportunities would be available for field trips etc though given the mandates. You would have to discuss the pros and cons of each option. It's useful to list them so you can visually weight it up too.
All I know in my heart is that it is drummed into us that we have to work hard in school, go to college, go to university, get married, have kids, buy a house, get promoted, climb the ladder and so on. I broke this mould for a while. I worked and learned at the same time. I did take time out to do another degree in later life and I didn't much like the traditional experience compared to the distance experience randomly but then my first university were the absolute best - they gave me the best education of all and at a fraction of the price of a bricks and mortar university. They taught me to be a good ethical scientist too.
I spent the last five years putting together what I thought would be the perfect life, I got the 'dream job' and 'salary'. In reality I was working 20 excess hours a week on top of my full-time job to make it happen and when I had 'it all', it made me miserable. I loved what I did but I hated working long hours, many of which I worked for free. I stopped seeing my family, stopped going out with friends, stopped spending quality time with my other half, and stopped volunteering. It became all consuming. And that was followed by two years of lockdowns which imposed the same conundrum of not seeing friends and family! In my mind, time with family is the most precious thing in the world.
Covid really shook me awake. I was part of an employment system that really implemented strict rules on Covid with perverse narratives. I could see clearly these were not grounded in good quality evidence-based science and that they were causing distress and harm. I tried to stand up against it but was labelled a heretic who was okay with grandmas dying! I decided to just walk away. And I did.
I took another job to make ends meet and was treated like a child by my boss for my decision to decline the injection! I have always been a hard working person with a solid work ethic who has always gone above and beyond in all that I do. That situation really crushed me and I lived with the worry that I could be sacked at any time, especially at a time when the press pushed constant propoganda toward the unvaccinated, when mandates and vaccine passports loomed and were rolling out globally, and our Prime Minister stated that we should 'have a discussion about the unvaccinated'. I was traumatised by the whole event but I know I was luckier than most in that it never was mandated for me to keep my job. I weep some nights for those whom have been forced against their will.
This situation has really made me question whom I work for in future. And I have decided that I deserve to be treated with dignity and respect for the choices I am legally and ethically entitled to make.
I am now working on clearing the last of all money owed for the debt I incurred from my education, and as a result of lockdown policies, and I am planning to build a better life by working for myself. I plan to set up my own business and I plan to put together some community programmes to try and reconnect people to hopefully repair what has been broken.
The past two years have been the worst of my life (as it has been for many others) and I would never wish to relive them, however, it is strange to say it has also been a blessing. For the first time in a long time I am fully awake. I have been to hell and back and I have come out of it. I sold my soul to what is marketed as 'The American Dream' for a while in the hope it would make me happy but learned that is a system designed to make us good consumers, to trap us in a debt cycle that we must work continuously to resolve. For me, it impacted creativity, time with my family and friends, and stopped me paying attention to what I really want in life.
Nowadays, I grow my own food and make plenty of things from scratch, I don't watch TV - I read books instead, I don't listen to the mainstream media anymore, I seldom buy anything in terms of commodities, I buy my clothes from charity shops now and donate them back next season, and I am living more altruistically and more sustainably. More importantly I have quality time with my family now. For the first time in a long time, I feel like the person I am supposed to be and things can only get better going forward, I'm committed to that.
I didn't mean to share my life story with you here but I hope it can offer another perspective.
In hindsight, the greatest lesson I have learned is to be true to myself and follow my authentic dreams rather than the false illusion of 'The American Dream'. However, I also have to make sensible decisions going forward to make sure that my plans are financially viable too, especially with inflation and some rocky roads ahead with the fiat system of currency. Its a work in progress and a constant learning cycle but I am not going to let these things drain me of my creativity. I just need to keep re-adapting the plan as events unfold. My goal going forward is to avoid debt and accumulate money to cover the tough times whilst living life as organically as possible.
These are just my personal thoughts. You all have to weigh up your own personal values and goals and decide what you want going forward and then find a way to make it financially viable.
Good luck and God bless.
They’re being used as money-laundering operations in the US as well. Lots of federal government money pours into universities, and lots of political donations pour out, pretty much all to one party.
It’s a giant scam. The ratio of “administrative staff” to professors says it all.
I believe a book has just been released by an author in America exposing this system. I forget the name, sorry. It is something like The College Illusion. I haven't read it as I'm in the UK but I've seen American's recommending it as a must read.
Very well said Dr Tess Lawrie, I 100% agree. That is why I am an Independent Researcher. Academia does not allow my research, as simple as that.
My view is probably treasonous within academic circles. But for a long time I have been quite concerned with over specialization of roles within society. This concern also refers to the number of those chasing PhDs and most of the academic heirarchy.
I saw how specialization has been promoted and at times it certainly has merits to be top of a field. But generalists, autodidacts and or renaissance men are also very important.
The more I learn about managing systems and the integration of business systems, or within holistic health models too, the more it becomes apparent that it's often the way an issue occurs in x and presents as a problem in x, but often in y and z also.
And that it is essential to understand how other systems are affected and how all systems work together to produce a functioning whole. To correctly diagnose and treat an issue. Otherwise we can and often tunnel vision on fixing x. Then we see y suffer and z collapse.
"I suggest that young people really tap into their intuition when considering university courses at this time, and consider the full array of life’s options."
Yes and yes and yes. Time for a total rehaul in so many ways and higher education (lately sounds like an oxymoron) is clearly one of them. (Particularly in light of their being used to propagandize and politicize as we've seen with Covid. They've shown, and Mark Crispin Miller's story is a perfect example, how its become all about the money.)
Look forward to the interview. Thank you!
Hit the nail right on the head! A perfect explanation to the rot in our educational settings.
Ivory tower has its downsides. Human life has no value when viewed from an ivory tower.
Tess, thank you for this valuable message. Things are worse than I even imagined. We shall have to have our own universities ready for when the first children graduate from schools that awakened (not woke) parents like Mikki Willis & wife are setting up. Also it will be exhilarating to have real thinkers in our midst, perhaps for the first time in history since the pre-Socratic philosophers. Human beings that have not been intellectually ruined and morally corrupted by the education they have undergone. Real lovers of wisdom and poets, the deepest thinkers of all. The previous system was cradled by the church, let's never forget that. It has been moribund from birth, sometime in the Middle Ages. We've never had the real thing yet and we are going to get it now. Again, it's exhilarating.
I went to junior college. I am not brainwashed. (I know I probably am, at some levels, which is actually a good sign I am fighting false ideas).
My family went to top, or near top universities. ( in eyes of most). They're all Very brainwashed on the DeATHVAX... They all took it, and bitch about my "conspiracy theories". Bowing down to CIA language as they speak.
Piss on Harvard, Oxford, Georgetown. Go Westchester Community College!
AIRLINE VACCINE MANDATES CAUSE CHAOS
¨Commercial airline pilots are speaking up more than ever about vaccine injuries and the “hostile” environment that unvaccinated and vaccine-injured pilots must endure.
Australian Captain Glen Waters was employed with Virgin Australia Airlines. After 20 years of exemplary service, Virgin terminated his employment. Why? Because he declined the Covid “vaccine.”
The biggest irony of this is that Australian aviators who did exactly what good aviators should do – think critically, assess risk and make safe decisions – were the ones whom the airlines, regulator and government punished and sacked. These aviators worked out that new risks were being introduced into flying that simply should never have been allowed, and so they resisted. Now, their assessments are being proven right as pilot vaccine injury increases.
Cpt. Waters dreamed of becoming a pilot from a young age. In high school, he flew gliders and in 1987 he began to realise his dream when he started training to become an airline pilot. He worked for Virgin Australia for 20 years, 19 of those as a captain.
On 16 September 2021 Virgin Australia announced it will require all its staff to be “vaccinated against Covid-19,” in line with domestic rival Qantas Airways and a growing number of airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. Pilots, cabin crew and airport workers were instructed they had to be fully vaccinated by 15 November.
In April 2022, on the 20th anniversary of his employment with the company, Virgin sent Cpt. Waters an email terminating his employment for “serious misconduct.” What was Cpt. Waters’ serious misconduct? He assessed the risks and made a rational, safe decision – not to be injected with a Covid “vaccine.”
The day after he was fired and still reeling from the shock of Virgin’s unjust action, Cpt. Waters spoke with Hoody, host of Hoody’s Heroes, about the circumstances leading up to his termination as well as his plans for the future. You can watch their discussion on Rumble by clicking on the image below.
When asked by Hoody what his plans were for the future, Cpt. Waters answered: “I am going to look after my fellow employees for a while because there’re a lot of desperate situations there. Somebody’s supposed to be looking after them. It wasn’t supposed to be me but we’re getting together to help each other because there’re quite some sad, sorry stories out there.”
Cpt. Waters is now advocating for pilots who were coerced into taking “vaccines” and injured as a result. In an interview with The Defender in June, Cpt. Waters said the injured pilots are scared of talking about their injury because they will be labelled “anti-vaxxers” and be discriminated against and/or have their employment terminated.
Virgin Australia is not allowing injured pilots to speak out, Cpt. Waters said, because “the company is actively trying to terminate anyone reporting vaccine injury.” He told The Defender that 900 pilots from Virgin Australia can no longer fly because they are suffering from medical complications post-Covid injection. “No doubt there are many more who are continuing to fly with troubling symptoms,” he said.
One captain had a stroke and went blind and another healthy captain had a sudden heart attack and fell down the boarding stairs. Formerly healthy pilots now report headaches, chest pains and shortness of breath, Cpt. Waters said. “I have heard [about cases of] tinnitus, vertigo and brain fog, including temporary blindness, in some crew. Disrupted menstrual cycles are reported frequently, perhaps affecting dozens [of employees].” Many of these issues are not even recognised as adverse events to the vaccine, even though the health issues are coming in waves, post-vaccination.¨
Read More https://www.hopegirlblog.com/2022/08/04/airline-vaccine-mandates-cause-chaos/
There was a comment about an excessive admin staff in academia (who need a reason to exist,, so they invent problems) who are essentially busy drones who do no useful work.
Don't we see a similar problem in govt. and in health care? That might be worth a post.
Thank you for all you're doing Tess.
Completely agree about the 'new lows' ... looks like academia has gone the way of the media. Should we now start using terms like 'corporate academia' ?
Also, in this article there appears to be a typo... HART should perhaps be HARE?
Thank you - typo now corrected. And yes, corporate academia is an excellent term.
Makes perfect sense to me.
Yes. Absolutely right. Universities don't teach the things that we've forgotten as 'modern' civilisations. Schools generally feed the debt machine with our children.
The universities are making courses easier to pass to not kill the golden goose.