Please read Ian’s latest one out of the park. Simple and straightforward, I hope that some of you share this with your perhaps less aware friends about how the intellectual project has been very effectively hijacked by the right wing over the last two generations. I’ve seen this up close and personal, and it is a subject that can still make my blood boil. Just as I imagine my friends from/at Harvard must feel, whenever I remind them that Chimpy also has that flavor of sheepskin in his possession.

One thing I’d add to this excellent essay is that while on the one hand, lesser “intellectuals” have been steadily elevated to positions of prominence on Scaife funded wings, the other sad truth is that far too many competent and degreed people have been shut out of their rightful places in our society and economy. I count myself as one of these folks (although of course I have personal reasons as well and don’t entirely blame the right wing).

I think the joke has gone from being funny to being a sad reality: even the waitstaff in restuarants in (fill in city suffering under the “Bush Boom”) have PhDs, certainly I know not a few multiply degreed folks with energy and determination working well below their abilities, and importantly, for less pay and prestige. Our system penalizes workers in many ways, not the least of which is that in many cases, if you stumble along the corporate track, it’s nigh impossible to ever get back on.

I think what has happened is that while America was enjoying the false flush of the oil economy, our meritocracy was replaced, in some significant stealth, with the old system of loyalty patronage. One of my rich Republican friends once remarked how disgusted she was with the Bush Republicans she worked with at WorldCom. She said, “I was taught that the fun was in beating the other guy at his own game with better products and smarter people. Cheating like this is against everything good business people hold dear.” She left shortly after that, and managed to avoid prosecution…barely. But it’s of note that even she hasn’t chosen to reenter the work force- she has all the connections money and pedigree allow, but she’d rather stay home and pick out curtains, and it makes me sad, as she has a first rate business mind.

I think one project we all have to work on is creating our own economy. Not just returning to the traditional values of a meritocracy, but also recognizing that there are things we can and must do to protect ourselves and our interests from the predatory patronage-based system. I think we should also work with our friends trapped in that system, and help convince them that slaves, even well paid ones, are disposable. I am proud to have done this in the cases of two friends, who now are running their own businesses instead of working for corporate America.

I’m curious about your thoughts on what I perceive as these two economies, and your own experiences in the workforce.