3. TIL there are 33,000+ PhD graduates receiving public aid in the United States.

TIL there are 33,000+ PhD graduates receiving public aid in the United States.

Oh man! I remember The Last Psychiatrist ripping into this article, specifically, in one of the best web op-eds of last year, "Hipsters on Food Stamps".

Here's the series:

[http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/11/hipsters_on_food_stamps.html](Part 1)

[http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/11/hipsters_on_food_stamps_part_2.html](Part 2)

[http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/12/product_review_panasonic_pt_ax.html](Part 3)

From Hipsters on Food Stamps part 2, where s/he talks about this article:

What did I expect? They apparently intended this picture to evoke sympathy, isn't it a crime that 33000 PhDs are on food stamps?

You can imagine how the other side reads it, some highlights: hyphenated name; stupid thing to get a PhD in; fat; what's an "adjunct"; why so much cheese; tattoos; place is a mess.

Nowhere does the article address the fact that [the system] should not have allowed her to get a PhD in medieval history, let alone help her pay for it. Do you know what The Chronicle does focus on? That she's not black. First sentence of the article which is entirely about branding:

"I am not a welfare queen," says Melissa.

For a lefty loosy publication like The Chronicle, what difference does it make if she's white? Why does her PhD make her more deserving tha[n] a welfare queen? Because to The Chronicle, the PhD has value. It doesn't. I'm not saying she isn't smart, I'm saying the PhD in no way communicates to me she knows medieval history better than any D&D player. She may know more, but how do I know? I don't even find "MD" particularly valid, but at least you can sue a doctor.

But my reason for showing you her is to highlight the perverse logic of the university which will doom us all: since the only maniacs who would ever hire these PhDs are universities, then the solution to their unemployment is more money for universities:

Ms. Bruninga-Matteau does not blame Yavapai College for her situation but rather the "systematic defunding of higher education." In Arizona last year, Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed a budget that cut the state's allocation to Yavapai's operating budget...

Why would you expect her to answer differently?

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