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NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

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Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#71

Post by rchaud »

sathackr wrote: post #28
ziddoap wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm going to stay and fight and try to make whatever impact I can. Can you give me some examples of how you would fight? Boss comes in (or whoever more powerful than me, e.g. someone acting on the president's orders), says something with the gist of "Do this, or get fired". What are the next steps that I can take that won't get me fired, but also count as fighting back?

Comply but leak the truth to the media. Comply in a maximally obstructive way. Comply just enough to not get fired but not as much as someone who may be more inclined to please their boss. Enlist other opposition and find ways to multiply your obstructive compliance into other departments. There's tons of "how-to" guides on how to maliciously comply with work demands without getting fired.

> There's tons of "how-to" guides on how to maliciously comply with work demands without getting fired.

These only apply to countries where the judicial system doesn't bend to whoever's in power.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#72

Post by [deleted] »

sathackr wrote: post #4

One thing I don't understand is people resigning on principles. If something bad is happening to an organization that I hold a significant amount of clout and power in, I'm not just going to leave and hand the reigns to someone on 'their side' -- I'm going to stay and fight and try to make whatever impact I can. So many people are just leaving...instead of fighting. Which seems like it's going to have the effect of j…

[deleted]

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#73

Post by rchaud »

bananapub wrote: post #15

Pretty distressing at how there’s basically zero pushback from the American elites at the destruction of all strategic American advantages and only ineffective pushback from the public. There will be entire genres of books written about how America just said “eh” to being gutted by a bunch of rich psychopaths.

American elites push back when their tax shelters and uninsured deposits (see Silicon Valley Bank collapse) are at risk. That's their line in the sand.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#74

Post by mikestew »

sathackr wrote: post #4

One thing I don't understand is people resigning on principles. If something bad is happening to an organization that I hold a significant amount of clout and power in, I'm not just going to leave and hand the reigns to someone on 'their side' -- I'm going to stay and fight and try to make whatever impact I can. So many people are just leaving...instead of fighting. Which seems like it's going to have the effect of j…

If something bad is happening to an organization that I hold a significant amount of clout and power in…

Seems to me if one held that much “clout and power”, they wouldn’t need to resign on principle. Instead one learns who really holds the clout and power.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#75

Post by esseph »

rchaud wrote: post #71
sathackr wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comply but leak the truth to the media. Comply in a maximally obstructive way. Comply just enough to not get fired but not as much as someone who may be more inclined to please their boss. Enlist other opposition and find ways to multiply your obstructive compliance into other departments. There's tons of "how-to" guides on how to maliciously comply with work demands without getting fired.

> There's tons of "how-to" guides on how to maliciously comply with work demands without getting fired. These only apply to countries where the judicial system doesn't bend to whoever's in power.

This comment doesn't make sense if you're aware of the content of the guides under discussion.

Subversion is the goal of them. To be successful requires time and not getting found out. It requires plausible deniability.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#76

Post by timschmidt »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #68
jacobsenscott wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, this is want American Elites want - so they can buy up the pieces at a discount.

I keep hearing this. But for that to work, the elites have to have a bunch of money available, that didn't lose value when everything fell apart. Well, where are they parking that money right now, that won't lose value when everything else does?

Switzerland, Malta, the Cayman Islands, all the traditional tax havens I'd assume.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#77

Post by fundad »

hammock wrote: post #55
sathackr wrote: post #4

One thing I don't understand is people resigning on principles. If something bad is happening to an organization that I hold a significant amount of clout and power in, I'm not just going to leave and hand the reigns to someone on 'their side' -- I'm going to stay and fight and try to make whatever impact I can. So many people are just leaving...instead of fighting. Which seems like it's going to have the effect of j…

NSF director is a political appointee, as such serves the will of the President. We don't need those people "fighting," we need to elect the people we want to make the right appointments.

this director was appointed by the 45th president in 2017.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#78

Post by justin66 »

sathackr wrote: post #28
ziddoap wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm going to stay and fight and try to make whatever impact I can. Can you give me some examples of how you would fight? Boss comes in (or whoever more powerful than me, e.g. someone acting on the president's orders), says something with the gist of "Do this, or get fired". What are the next steps that I can take that won't get me fired, but also count as fighting back?

Comply but leak the truth to the media. Comply in a maximally obstructive way. Comply just enough to not get fired but not as much as someone who may be more inclined to please their boss. Enlist other opposition and find ways to multiply your obstructive compliance into other departments. There's tons of "how-to" guides on how to maliciously comply with work demands without getting fired.

> Comply but leak the truth to the media.

Doesn't apply, everybody knows what's going on already.

> Comply in a maximally obstructive way.

Doesn't apply, the whole point is that the executive wants to obstruct things, and that's what we're talking about fighting against.

> Comply just enough to not get fired but not as much as someone who may be more inclined to please their boss.

Doesn't apply, you can't half-fire the specified people, or give just a little bit of money to the people you've been instructed not to fund. You can comply, or not, and it's not going to be any kind of secret which way you chose.

If you want to go out in a blaze of glory and leave the building a day later than you otherwise would, with less dignity, go for it.

> Enlist other opposition and find ways to multiply your obstructive compliance into other departments.

It's just not that kind of role.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#79

Post by timschmidt »

Ar-Curunir wrote: post #70
warkdarrior wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fairly straightforward really. Academics will work on whatever grant topics are available, most will do anything for money, so expect lots of grants on topics directly benefiting X.ai, Tesla, Neuralink, or SpaceX.

There's multiple reasons why what you said is just wrong. First, if academics wanted to work on topics mandated by somebody else, they would go work in industry for that somebody, and earn much more money than they earn right now. Second, most academic scientists do not do anything relevant to Musk's companies. Do you expect a chemist to pivot to self-driving cars? Or a pure mathematician to whatever X.ai is doing? T…

> First, if academics wanted to work on topics mandated by somebody else, they would go work in industry for that somebody, and earn much more money than they earn right now.

Very few academics become principle investigators. Most every academic who's not a PI is working on something for that PI.

Re: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy

#80

Post by 9283409232 »

jmclnx wrote: post #48
bananapub wrote: post #15

Pretty distressing at how there’s basically zero pushback from the American elites at the destruction of all strategic American advantages and only ineffective pushback from the public. There will be entire genres of books written about how America just said “eh” to being gutted by a bunch of rich psychopaths.

Lets hope we get to the place were these books will be written. Books are already being banned in the US and some retailers are pulling these books from their selves.

Books will be written but not by the Americans much like the fall of Rome wasn't covered by the Romans.
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