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Careers like medicine, science, and nonprofits reject the overwhelming majority of job seekers and brutalize their workers precisely because they are extremely

Careers like medicine, science, and nonprofits reject the overwhelming majority of job seekers and brutalize their workers precisely because they are extremely oversupplied with labor. We should be doing possible to divert talent away from these fields until there is a tenured professorship for every PhD candidate, medical residents get 8-hour workdays, unpaid internships disappear, etc.

sfpotter 4y ago
If you train as a nurse or a physician's assistant, you will have no trouble getting a job and won't have to go through all the rigmarole associated with becoming a doctor. This is not to say that the AMA isn't a cartel and the situation couldn't be improved. But fixing the situation would likely result in lower salaries for doctors... which would require med school to be cheaper... bit of a Catch-22. Science is oversupplied with labor, but there is absolutely no need for every PhD candidate to have a tenured professorship waiting for them. Better would be to actually fund the sciences by pumping money into national labs while simultaneously creating real teaching stream options at universities and colleges. Could also create more opportunities for people to have careers as research scientists at universities. Hopefully at the same time the number of people languishing in postdocs can be reduced. Ultimately, I don't think the current model of "do it all" professor who is expected to be a rockstar researcher, teacher, and salesperson all at once makes any sense. Also, curious that you didn't mention K-12 teachers. At any rate, I strongly disagree that pulling people away from these careers to build websites will have the kind of positive effect you believe it will. The only way to effect these kinds of changes is through labor organizing. And this will only happen if people are in these jobs because they want to be, or because they're a good option among many.

sfpotter 4y ago

If you train as a nurse or a physician's assistant, you will have no trouble getting a job and won't have to go through all the rigmarole associated with becoming a doctor. This is not to say that the AMA isn't a cartel and the situation couldn't be improved. But fixing the situation would likely result in lower salaries for doctors... which would require med school to be cheaper... bit of a Catch-22. Science is oversupplied with labor, but there is absolutely no need for every PhD candidate to have a tenured professorship waiting for them. Better would be to actually fund the sciences by pumping money into national labs while simultaneously creating real teaching stream options at universities and colleges. Could also create more opportunities for people to have careers as research scientists at universities. Hopefully at the same time the number of people languishing in postdocs can be reduced. Ultimately, I don't think the current model of "do it all" professor who is expected to be a rockstar researcher, teacher, and salesperson all at once makes any sense. Also, curious that you didn't mention K-12 teachers. At any rate, I strongly disagree that pulling people away from these careers to build websites will have the kind of positive effect you believe it will. The only way to effect these kinds of changes is through labor organizing. And this will only happen if people are in these jobs because they want to be, or because they're a good option among many.