Not old-time, but tenured professor for 10 years. I definitely saw this happen in my time. The university has a faculty legislature that at one time was the administrative core, but it's largely a symbolic gesture at this point, kind of like the opposite of the royal family vis-a-vis parliament etc in England.
I do think this is a problem everywhere, in academics, in medicine, and probably other fields that I have less knowledge of. I think income inequality problems are really less of a problem per se (although still definitely a problem) than the power inequity problems that income inequality reflects. Some of it is rent-seeking monopoly problems, but I think there's a broader trend societally (as reflected in right-wing authoritarian trends globally) toward a lack of skepticism about power differentials, whether the inequalities we see are really justified in the magnitude we see them, and whether other power structures would be better.
I personally think with academics it's particularly problematic because the endgame (supposedly) is acquisition of knowledge where we don't really know what's going on, and I happen to believe the best environment for that is one where it's everything goes, closer to a democratic-libertarian-deregulated kind of environment.
My impressions of the time I was tenured are very close to what this guy is saying, although I think it's the tip of the iceberg and a lot of problems are being brushed over (appropriately I admit given that it's not really the right piece for it).
I do think this is a problem everywhere, in academics, in medicine, and probably other fields that I have less knowledge of. I think income inequality problems are really less of a problem per se (although still definitely a problem) than the power inequity problems that income inequality reflects. Some of it is rent-seeking monopoly problems, but I think there's a broader trend societally (as reflected in right-wing authoritarian trends globally) toward a lack of skepticism about power differentials, whether the inequalities we see are really justified in the magnitude we see them, and whether other power structures would be better.
I personally think with academics it's particularly problematic because the endgame (supposedly) is acquisition of knowledge where we don't really know what's going on, and I happen to believe the best environment for that is one where it's everything goes, closer to a democratic-libertarian-deregulated kind of environment.
My impressions of the time I was tenured are very close to what this guy is saying, although I think it's the tip of the iceberg and a lot of problems are being brushed over (appropriately I admit given that it's not really the right piece for it).