[astazangasta]

I deplore the model of the world where acquiring a PhD is a choice made by an individual, and what you should do is cash in on your credentials.

When we ignore the social component of our lives, big surprise, it atrophies and dies. I have a PhD because many people (a society) invested in me to get one. My PhD is not something I should use for my own enrichment by building a "career" and a "startup" to satisfy my job requirements, there should be a substantial portion of my effort that is socially directed, that gives back the enormous amount that was given to me to get me here.

This is why I will remain stuck in academia forever, desperately seeking that shrinking universe where someone can attempt to produce pure public goods.

[contingencies]

Admirable! This sort of socially conscious personal life decision making rarely survives very long after contact with capitalist realities... a quote from Peter Thiel (of whose apparent social perspectives and path-to-riches I am not a fan, ) summarizes the late capitalist perspective on this: The eccentric university professor is a species that is going extinct fast. May I ask what your field is?