Ashamed in front of garbagemen

So far, I have not mentioned any of my complaints about academia, preferring to focus on the positive. But in working on this China book, I came across a quote from Lin YuTang that struck a chord and reminded me of one of the things I did not like about this gig. He was one of the main interpreters of China for Americans in the middle of the last century, and his book "My Country and My People" is still worth reading. But there is one passage in there that seems particularly relevant to the current situation. Lin writes, "any college examination must be of such a nature that students can prepare for it at a week's notice, or all of them will flunk, and any knowledgte that can be crammed into a week's notice can be forgotten in as short a period. There have not yet been devised any series of examinations which are cram-proof and student-proof, and the victims are only the professors who are led to believe that their sutdents have really understood their subjects." I am sorry if this sounds cyncial. All I will say in its defense is that Lin is a wise man, and you can deny the above statement all you want, but in truth I will take Lin's word over yours. So one of my complaints about the academic life is the essential worthlessness of what we do. Again, you vs. Lin and I will take Lin. You believe what you want or what you need to. Does anyone remember Father Guido Sarducci's five minute university? He will teach you in five minutes what the average college graduate remembers five years after graduating. Look, there's nothing wrong in finding an easy gig for yourself, but don't delude yourself into thinking this is anything other than an easy gig. I have some real doubts about whether this qualifies under the Buddhist heading of right livelihood. I mean, you're not selling arms, but neither are you contributing anything positive to humanity. How do I put this? You should be ashamed in front of garbagemen, who can at least boast some positive contribution to the state of thigns. O.K. Glad I got that out of my system.