Harry, See "The Call Girls" by Arthur Koestler, a satire of international conventions and scientific congresses. You may just see someone very familiar there.
arthur -----Original Message----- From: Harry Pollard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 4:10 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Brian McAndrews Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Futurework] Re: Adjuncts (was Whining) Brian wrote: >Hi Harry, >Did you cut and paste this lecture from one of the courses that you >taught? Or perhaps from a paper you presented at AAAS? No, it was written in as it came to me. The problem with this is that I am likely to miss something out. The good thing is that I will copy it for the next time the question comes up. >Have you attended >many conferences over your career? Who paid for flight, registration, >hotel, meals? Your university? Research grants? Taxpayers? Does all of >this scholarly activity fit into your free market theory? I've presented at State, National, and International Conferences in my time. If it was connected with my schools, I would be subsidized - or I might not have gone. Though, the important thing with any conferences is the chance to meet old friends. For the fun presentations, where I might well be ruffling feathers, I paid my own way. (However, there are expense deductions from income tax . . . . . ) As I got older, I became less enthusiastic about conferences. "How was Chicago?" "Well, I was driven from the airport to a hotel. The days were pretty full. Then, I was driven back to the airport, where I got my flight home. Haven't a clue what Chicago was like." You've been through it as have most people on this list. I remember an enjoyable conference at Miami Beach. The Miss Universe Pageant was being held and we would run into pretty girls everywhere. Including Miss Japan using her $100 allowance to buy a bunch of cheap Japanese imported junk in a tourist trap store. At an Atlanta Georgist Conference, I dropped a bomb on Georgist theory, carefully setting out the influence of general taxation on Rent. I was castigated for not supporting land value taxation and suchlike. I really got some red-faced responses. It was fun. Over the years, most Georgists have come round to my original argument, which was perfectly logical and easily acceptable.. The only problem is that I was wrong. Now, I'm having a hell of a time trying to turn them away from the false path I led them along. (Well, it really did seem plausible at the time.) Come to think of it, a conference in Vancouver at the time of the World's fair was pretty good. Particularly as it was a very warm Spring. We visited Lake Louise again with a temperature of 85 degrees, even though ice covered the lake. So, some conferences were good, particularly if circumstances allowed me to bring my family. Did you ever read Davic Lodge's novel 'Small World'? Funny as hell and >it really provides an insiders look at global conference hopping. > >I know you appreciate the Socratic method, so all my questions will be >appreciated. > >Take care, >Brian >ps be careful carrying my NAFTA quip in your wallet. You might be picked >up by the thought police and if they found that, off you go to Cuba! I haven't read "Small World" but I'll look for it. I've always liked the idea of going to Cuba! Harry ****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 ******************************* _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
