also, it sucks that university is seen as a way to get more money, rather than knowledge…
Its more that knowledge is seen purely as a means of juicing short-term returns.
Like, I don't think its crazy at all to note the link between a boom in Russian intelligentsia and an upswell in standards of living. The Soviets produced a host of technologies that radically improved domestic life, functionally raising the wealth of the nation's people. But these returns were a consequence of long-term industrial investment, not a rapid succession of short term speculative "wins".
Even setting aside "enjoyment of life" - even at its peak, plenty of people in the Soviet block endured hardships - the fruits of knowledge were intended to enrich the community at large. Economic reforms of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin pivoted the nation from a wide network of comrades working towards a utopian dream into a million individualized crabs in a bucket all scrambling to get to the top. Then, even the wealthiest Russians were impoverished by their short-sighted greed. And now they're left to scramble for resources right alongside the rest of the European nations, leading to a bloody pointless war and millions of new refugees fleeing from the breadbasket of three continents.
Its more that knowledge is seen purely as a means of juicing short-term returns.
Like, I don't think its crazy at all to note the link between a boom in Russian intelligentsia and an upswell in standards of living. The Soviets produced a host of technologies that radically improved domestic life, functionally raising the wealth of the nation's people. But these returns were a consequence of long-term industrial investment, not a rapid succession of short term speculative "wins".
Even setting aside "enjoyment of life" - even at its peak, plenty of people in the Soviet block endured hardships - the fruits of knowledge were intended to enrich the community at large. Economic reforms of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin pivoted the nation from a wide network of comrades working towards a utopian dream into a million individualized crabs in a bucket all scrambling to get to the top. Then, even the wealthiest Russians were impoverished by their short-sighted greed. And now they're left to scramble for resources right alongside the rest of the European nations, leading to a bloody pointless war and millions of new refugees fleeing from the breadbasket of three continents.