Drug Cartels Are just Like Regular People.

       There is an article that appeared in the Washington Post today, by Scott Jaschik titled Welcome To Our Tijuana Campus. The whole point of the article is an attempt to suggest that Academia acts like a drug cartel, at times. It tells of young PhDs that are treated similar to the lowest tier drug dealers working for very low pay in the hopes of making it to the top where they will make untold riches. These young PhDs work for low pay in hopes of getting tenure and moving up the scale to become a highly respected, and highly paid, professor of note.
       Drug lords depend on these low paid workers so they can make the millions they've become accustomed to. The big time professors depend on these low paid PhDs to do the leg work for them so they can concentrate on the big prizes, like money. So there really are similarities between these two very different approaches to life.
       But the article really didn't need to go quite that far. Mr. Jaschik could just as easily have used nearly any corporation in the country, or the world as the example. Or for that matter he could have compared nearly any corporation to a drug cartel. Does anyone think corporations don't work and act the same way? Why is it that Walmart pays its workers so little? Or McDonalds, or just about any other company? If you don't think its a case of greed, raise your hand. You may be right. It may not be greed. It might just be coincidence the owners and CEOs of these companies are making millions and living in splendor while their workers are making starvation wages and living in squalor.
       It might be coincidence. It might be, but I can tell you only the ones making the big bucks believe that. And those folks only believe it because they talk themselves into believing it. Not that those folks go around talking to themselves about this issue. Mostly they don't even think about the difference between how they live and how their workers live. The reason I'm convinced of that is that I don't think anyone is so callous as to reflect on the suffering of their workers and not care. Of course I could be wrong.