Yeah, and some profs are really good about it, even if they wrote the textbook. Like a lot of my profs would talk about how it was possible to photocopy the course notes package pages, that there were ways to get textbooks without paying for them or even offered to send a copy of the pdf master to anyone who asked because writing the textbook wasn’t intended to gouge students.
But I’ve heard the opposite story, too, where the prof wrote a textbook that was barely even used but added it to the required texts list. Profs in my program weren’t that bad, but I did see some of the textbook publisher response to those kinds of profs, where they’d have a website and buying the textbook was really about buying a code to sign up for the site. Luckily, most of those didn’t use the site for real assignments, so it still wasn’t mandatory but the rent seeking was obvious.
But yeah, wish it was similar to Europe in the Americas. Canada might be a bit better off, though I might just be saying this as someone who went into a well-paying career and actually managed to pay off my student debt pretty quickly. Government forgave some of the student debt I had through them when I graduated (actually a decent chunk of it) and this even happened automatically (was a very pleasant surprise).
But I wish the public saw how increased access to education helps improve things for everyone, even if you don’t get educated directly (though I’d support a system that gave universal access to education so no one is being completely denied, though some gating based on ability would help avoid waste time).
But I wish the public saw how increased access to education helps improve things for everyone, even if you don’t get educated directly (though I’d support a system that gave universal access to education so no one is being completely denied, though some gating based on ability would help avoid waste time).
That would be wonderful, but the public perception is a hindrance (like high speed rail, medicine access, etc.).
The US is wildly propagandized against our own best interests.
Yeah, I’ll change my wish to I wish people weren’t so susceptible to propaganda, especially the really shallow stuff that falls apart the moment you stop and think about whether it really makes sense (like the old “they hate our freedom” argument).
But then again, if the simple stuff didn’t work, then it would just get more sophisticated and maybe the really dumb propaganda is required to recognize its other forms.
Yeah, and some profs are really good about it, even if they wrote the textbook. Like a lot of my profs would talk about how it was possible to photocopy the course notes package pages, that there were ways to get textbooks without paying for them or even offered to send a copy of the pdf master to anyone who asked because writing the textbook wasn’t intended to gouge students.
But I’ve heard the opposite story, too, where the prof wrote a textbook that was barely even used but added it to the required texts list. Profs in my program weren’t that bad, but I did see some of the textbook publisher response to those kinds of profs, where they’d have a website and buying the textbook was really about buying a code to sign up for the site. Luckily, most of those didn’t use the site for real assignments, so it still wasn’t mandatory but the rent seeking was obvious.
But yeah, wish it was similar to Europe in the Americas. Canada might be a bit better off, though I might just be saying this as someone who went into a well-paying career and actually managed to pay off my student debt pretty quickly. Government forgave some of the student debt I had through them when I graduated (actually a decent chunk of it) and this even happened automatically (was a very pleasant surprise).
But I wish the public saw how increased access to education helps improve things for everyone, even if you don’t get educated directly (though I’d support a system that gave universal access to education so no one is being completely denied, though some gating based on ability would help avoid waste time).
That would be wonderful, but the public perception is a hindrance (like high speed rail, medicine access, etc.).
The US is wildly propagandized against our own best interests.
Yeah, I’ll change my wish to I wish people weren’t so susceptible to propaganda, especially the really shallow stuff that falls apart the moment you stop and think about whether it really makes sense (like the old “they hate our freedom” argument).
But then again, if the simple stuff didn’t work, then it would just get more sophisticated and maybe the really dumb propaganda is required to recognize its other forms.