You know their type. Middle class, every one of them. Head girl and head boy types, all of them. Eager to please. Keen to do well.
Academia is their horizon. The academic snow globe. They simply do what they’re supposed to.
Passers of exams. Jumpers through hoops. Excelling, in general.
Expecting to be patted on the head. Wanting to be patted on the head. Wanting to tick all the boxes. Appalling.
This is what the system produces. This is what it makes. By the system’s fruit should you judge it. And the fruit are identikit. Pro forma. Standarised models.
They have expectations. God knows. They have ambitions. And aspirations! They really think they’re going somewhere, and that they can actually go somewhere.
They’ve never doubted themselves. Never come against their limits.
They didn’t know that they even had limits.
Accomplished – that’s what they are, in their own way. They’ve achieved things – that’s what they think. Imagine that! They’re going places! Taking steps – giant steps.
They’ll run on their rails. Run in their grooves. Do what they’re supposed to do, and in the usual way, following the usual method.
They’ll think what they’re supposed to think. In the way they’re supposed to thing. Doing what they’re told.
Clever – of course. Clever within the system. Within the rules. They’re players – in the system.
And smug! And pleased with themselves. Good little boys and girls.
And there are sufficient rewards in the system to keep them happy. To keep them incentivised. There are enough drops of dopamine released into their system.
With a terrible consensus. A sense of agreement. Homo academicus – entirely diminished. Entirely subservient. Civil servants of thought. With no independence. No autonomy. No independence of mind.
Academic unquestioning. Academic complicity. Academic drones. Academic yes men. Yes women!
Academia is the problem. Academia itself is the obstacle. The way it selects for conformity. For obedience. The way it incentivises supporting government narratives. New world order narratives. Big pharma and big ag and big everything else narratives.
They think they’re caring. Woolly progressive types left-liberal types. Guardian reader types.
They think they’re doing good. They think they’re helping. Making the world a better place. Working on solutions.
They’re unable to attain their idiocy. To reach it. They had never known their failure.
Whereas we … we’re all failure. We’re nothing but failure.
They don’t know their mediocrity. They cannot be stupid. Can’t let themselves be idiots.
They’re not even stupid. They don’t even err.
Work in Progress 