RaymondPierreL3<p>Whenever I think about an issue in politics or economics, I try to break it down to something I can understand, something I can compare it to in order to see through the BS. Because of my background, there are only a few metaphors I can use, defence, software systems and Lab techniques. All of which are dated, but the core concepts remain useful.</p><p>So thinking about the <a href="https://aus.social/tags/TertiarySector" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TertiarySector</span></a> , and the <a href="https://aus.social/tags/neoliberal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>neoliberal</span></a> onslaught it is subjected to, made me think about why it matters. What can I compare it to.</p><p>Perhaps education is like the ADF. <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Education" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Education</span></a> is a defense against social regression, so it is in the national interest and benefits society. It is a bulwark against the dismantling of our democratic institutions. </p><p>These, among others, sound like the things the ADF is meant to protect. But nobody would think of ‘corporatising’ the ADF. Outsourcing our armed forces would be sheer lunacy. The support the ADF requires to fulfil its mission is not outsourced to bean-counters. The ADF decides what it requires, and when funding is needed to address these requirements it’s not a discussion about what and how many personal weapons are needed but how much the govt can afford. The govt doesn’t get involved in the weapons training the ADF undertakes on a daily basis, nor in its battelfield tactics — the ADF has experts who do this. </p><p>Why then does the govt do this with universities? Why mess about in matters they have little to no expertise in? It should solely be a matter of ‘how much we can afford?’ not about which faculty/staff to cut back. As for the ‘mission’, it’s fairly straightforward and any govt messing about here is highly suspicious unless it is acting to nurture society for the greater good of all. </p><p>Anyway, you see where I’m getting at with this line of thinking. Hopefully, you’ll also see the folly of our political representatives messing about in <a href="https://aus.social/tags/TertiaryEducation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>TertiaryEducation</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Governance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Governance</span></a>. There will be consequences, of that you can be sure. </p><p>/end_of_rambling</p>