> But now I'm seeing that tenure can actually provide valuable protection for professors. Teaching in non-STEM subjects is ideological; it has to come from some

> But now I'm seeing that tenure can actually provide valuable protection for professors. Teaching in non-STEM subjects is ideological; it has to come from some viewpoint. And without tenure, it can reduce down to "teach your subject from the viewpoint the administrators want, or you're fired." Though with tenure, it seems to reduce down to "teach your subject from the viewpoint the administrators want," but with the lag of about a generation. It just means conformity is enforced in hiring and by more difficult firing process. It might actually be an improvement in some ways to get rid of tenure because it would make things worse is a way that would make them clear. If you're in a Communist country being taught Communism by a Communist professor, if you have any understanding of the system at all, it's hard to deceive yourself into believing that Communist viewpoint is anything but propaganda from the powers-that-be. Tenure and other aspects of "academic freedom" can be undermined, but provide enough cover to allow students to deceive themselves into thinking they're being taught a truth that isn't politically-defined.