This sense of impending doom you describe is almost omnipresent in capitalist society. I’m not sure if it was always the case, but when I make the mistake of reading reddit, everyone there seems so depressed and hopeless, and they’ll get banned if they blame anyone except boomers or MAGA republicans (mention the bourgeoisie and you’re out). I worked as an assistant professor for years in a university overseas, and that sense of gloom was also present. The university itself was always on the ropes (it was not an ivy), and administrators were always hinting that we would lose our jobs if we failed to keep upgrading our degrees, although they never went through with firing anyone (unless you sexually harassed people, didn’t show up to class, or argued with your colleagues via email for years). I only felt comfortable there in my last few months after I told the administrators that I was quitting. It seems insane to quit a job like that (and I’m still unemployed going on eight years later) but the pay sucked and the boredom and repetitiveness was becoming unbearable.
This sense of impending doom you describe is almost omnipresent in capitalist society. I’m not sure if it was always the case, but when I make the mistake of reading reddit, everyone there seems so depressed and hopeless, and they’ll get banned if they blame anyone except boomers or MAGA republicans (mention the bourgeoisie and you’re out). I worked as an assistant professor for years in a university overseas, and that sense of gloom was also present. The university itself was always on the ropes (it was not an ivy), and administrators were always hinting that we would lose our jobs if we failed to keep upgrading our degrees, although they never went through with firing anyone (unless you sexually harassed people, didn’t show up to class, or argued with your colleagues via email for years). I only felt comfortable there in my last few months after I told the administrators that I was quitting. It seems insane to quit a job like that (and I’m still unemployed going on eight years later) but the pay sucked and the boredom and repetitiveness was becoming unbearable.