Richard Stallman, founder of the FSF, robbed in Argentina

[el_expatriado]

I'm not going to respond to your irrational rants about UBA, but this particular comment stood out. This is a perfect description of ALL academics in US universities - from philosophy to business to engineering. If that is your problem with UBA, then my guess is you didn't study in the US. And certainly did NOT study an advanced degree.

The fact that you compare the UBA to any university in the US shows you don't know anything about the UBA or public universities in Latin America in general. You can't even begin to compare the kind of politicking that goes on in US academia with what goes on at the UBA.

 

[pompeygazza]

One thing I've learned about this forum is that any post that goes beyond two pages becomes pointless, and overly personal, slagging-off which goes way beyond the original post.

Calm down people!

 

[camberiu]

One thing I've learned about this forum is that any post that goes beyond two pages becomes pointless, and overly personal, slagging-off which goes way beyond the original post.

Calm down people!

You are either with me or against me

 

[camberiu]

maybe you should get some professional help.

Before attacking him like that, you might want to consider the possibility that he might not be as out there as you think.

I suggest you check up on the concept of "passive revolution", which was developed by the famous Italian revolutionary communist Antonio Gramsci. Antonio Gramsci and his methods were particularly popular with the left here in South America and his legacy can be found in many schools in Brasil, Uruguay and Argentina.

Once you become familiar with the concept, what he wrote does not sound as crazy as you originally assumed.

 

[el_expatriado]

I'm not going to respond to your irrational rants about UBA

I am trying to convince my wife to come on the forum and tell some of her UBA stories so I can convince you all how rotten to the core the UBA is. You all give your opinions about the UBA, but none of you actually went there.

Here are just a few of the anecdotes she told me about the UBA over dinner tonight:

1. She had to evacuate the building once after the leftist groups made a bomb threat.
2. The commies who ran the student center constantly interrupted her classes to recruit the students to come to their political meetings.
3. Professors and TAs would often show up an hour late to their class or never come at all.
4. On days where it rained they had the students sit near the center of the class away from the walls because the water that leaked from the walls was sometimes electrified due to the unshielded electric wiring.
5. The bathrooms were up to the same standard of cleanliness as what you would find in a train station.

So, I don't care how many nobel prize winners the UBA has. I've heard enough from a lot of different Argentines, but especially from my wife, to know what the UBA is really like.

 

[Mano Negra]

This doesn't surprise me at all. The UBA is a disaster. It's a rat's nest of communists, piqueteros, and 30 year-old permastudents. I pity the families who are forced to send their kids to study there. Anyone who can afford it goes somewhere else.

Sometimes I think I live in a parallel universe to some of you guys. I went through the UK education and university system and reckon I had only one really decent teacher in my life. I returned to studying at the UBA somewhat reluctantly (and after a couple of decades) and was amazed by the quality and commitment of the dozen professors that I came into contact with over the duration of the course. I don't really care if they were communists, permastudents (isn't that what academics are meant to be?) or even that the building was falling down. What I did care about was the professionalism and enthusiasm which seemed to come from their sense of pride in the status of the UBA as a public institution. I suspect that communists (if indeed they are, or at least socialists) may view the process of imparting knowledge somewhat differently to capitalists. Maybe the clue is how cheap it is for foreigners to study there?

 

[el_expatriado]

Sometimes I think I live in a parallel universe to some of you guys. I went through the UK education and university system and reckon I had only one really decent teacher in my life. I returned to studying at the UBA somewhat reluctantly and was amazed by the quality and commitment of the dozen professors that I came into contact with over the duration of the course. I don't really care if they were communists, permastudents (isn't that what academics are meant to be?) or even that the building was falling down. What I did care about was the professionalism and enthusiasm which seemed to come from their sense of pride in the status of the UBA as a public institution. I suspect that communists (if indeed they are, or at least socialists) may view the process of imparting knowledge somewhat differently to capitalists. Maybe the clue is how cheap it is for foreigners to study there?

Did you actually enroll in the UBA as an undergraduate degree program or are you taking some of the courses "extensión universitaria". Because the latter (i.e. paid courses with professors who show up on time, etc) has nothing at all to do with the undergrad experience. I have taken extensión universitaria courses at the UBA and the experience and the professors are very different.

 

[sleslie23]

I am trying to convince my wife to come on the forum and tell some of her UBA stories so I can convince you all how rotten to the core the UBA is. You all give your opinions about the UBA, but none of you actually went there.

Not only do I study there currently, I do so in the the Facultad de Filsofía y Letras. Which according to you would make me a communist. So, keep flapping metaphorical lips.

No one said UBA was perfect. It has multiple problems. NO ONE will disagree with that. However, to say that everyone in UBA is a communist, is at best hyperbolic, but in your case asinine.

Your rhetoric is 30 years old. No one is afraid of the commies anymore. The socialists are the new boogie man. Are many professors in UBA socialists? No one is going to argue that one either. It's your hyperbolic rhetoric that prevents having any real discussion of the pros and cons of UBA.

 

[el_expatriado]

Not only do I study there currently, I do so in the the Facultad de Filsofía y Letras. Which according to you would make me a communist. So, keep flapping metaphorical lips.

No one said UBA was perfect. It has multiple problems. NO ONE will disagree with that. However, to say that everyone in UBA is a communist, is at best hyperbolic, but in your case asinine.

Your rhetoric is 30 years old. No one is afraid of the commies anymore. The socialists are the new boogie man. Are many professors in UBA socialists? No one is going to argue that one either. It's your hyperbolic rhetoric that prevents having any real discussion of the pros and cons of UBA.

My entire point was that I was not surprised that Richard Stallman was robbed in the UBA. I very much doubt he would have been robbed if he was giving his lecture at the UCA, UADE, or San Andres.

I never said everyone who went to the UBA was a communist, but I do think that most communist students probably go to the UBA. And I'm sure a large percentage of them are in the Facultad de Filsofía y Letras, but I don't need to tell you that. You already know that.

Communist, socialist, montoneros, I don't care what you call it. It's the same rotten philosophy that legitimized mass crime by the state and was responsable for the deaths of 90+ million people worldwide.

 

[JoeBlow]

Jesus was a communist, as you know, so Im thinking it wasn't one of the commies.

This doesn't surprise me at all. The UBA is a disaster. It's a rat's nest of communists, piqueteros, and 30 year-old permastudents. I pity the families who are forced to send their kids to study there. Anyone who can afford it goes somewhere else.