The exchange of ideas began with the presentation of research notes.  Five of us submitted summaries of our findings, our considerations on the prospect of building-from-scratch higher education.  Perhaps it is obvious that college and post graduate studies are out of reach financially for a large majority of high school students desiring to continue.  Additionally there are many more qualified applicants than available seats at top tier colleges and state schools.

Four of the papers introduced were premised on the assumption that conditions will continue as they presently are, that the technologies for remote learning widely used during the pandemic,  and that the available, affordably priced (if not free) resources on the internet — open the door for re-inventing higher education.

Another of the papers offered a darker, pessimistic possibility.  That concept was premised on the likelihood that the ultra conservative minded cohort of Americans, possibly a third of our people, will gain political strength.  Political conservatism is ill disposed toward public education.  It considers education subversive to the goal of political, of social dominance.  As a result education will be starved of funding from public resources.  Even more formidable is the prospect of a worsening impact of climate change, of Global Climate Catastrophe as the writer expressed it.  Globe spanning supply chains will be permanently disrupted, economies impaired, scarcity of everything will become the norm.

The fifth paper suggested the prospect of a feudal-like administration by politicians hostile to higher education, and an even more drastic disruption of ordinary life due to severe weather events.

Are we far from the shallow now?  Definitely!

Our discussion continues on the coming Tuesday evening.

---

I suggest this gorgeous duet, a tune to get us through the day.  What does the existential angst of a love relationship have to do with the condition of society, of the economy, of the exigencies of our survival?  Is not the uncertainty, the insecurity of one mirrored in the other?  So it is.

Hold on to the beauty…

Shallow

(from “A Star Is Born” soundtrack)

[Bradley Cooper:]
Tell me somethin’, girl
Are you happy in this modern world?
Or do you need more?
Is there somethin’ else you’re searchin’ for?

I’m falling
In all the good times I find myself longin’ for change
And, in the bad times, I fear myself

[Lady Gaga:]
Tell me something, boy
Aren’t you tired tryna fill that void?
Or do you need more?
Ain’t it hard keeping it so hardcore?

I’m falling
In all the good times I find myself longin’ for change
And, in the bad times, I fear myself

I’m off the deep end, watch as I dive in
I’ll never meet the ground
Crash through the surface where they can’t hurt us
We’re far from the shallow now

[Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper:]
In the sha-ha-sha-ha-low
In the sha-ha-sha-la-la-la-low
In the sha-ha-sha-ha-ha-low
We’re far from the shallow now

[Lady Gaga:]
Oh, ha, ah, ha
Oh-ah, ha
Oh, ha, ah, ha

I’m off the deep end, watch as I dive in
I’ll never meet the ground
Crash through the surface where they can’t hurt us
We’re far from the shallow now

[Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper:]
In the sha-ha-sha-ha-low
In the sha-ha-sha-la-la-la-low
In the sha-ha-sha-ha-ha-low
We’re far from the shallow now

Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt