I have received the following communication from Saybrook University, where I received my Ph.D. in Human Science:
Dear Saybrook Alumni,
I am writing to share some important news with you. Saybrook University has decided not to renew the employment contract of Dr. Stanley Krippner. His last day as a member of our faculty is May 31.
This decision was not made lightly. It was made after Dr. Krippner acknowledged multiple violations of university policy. An independent law firm, retained by the University, confirmed these violations. Because this is an employment issue, we are not at liberty to provide additional details.
We plan to launch a nationwide search for a new faculty member who will carry on the critical work of supporting our humanistic psychology programs and specializations.
This recruitment will be an extremely important step for Saybrook University. We will strive to look for a candidate with a strong background in research, humanistic psychology and consciousness studies, as well as someone who can skillfully mentor students through the thesis and dissertation process.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at [email address elided].
Sincerely,
Nathan Long, President[1]
I never worked with Stanley Krippner and did not really know him. I certainly knew of him; his reputation was stellar. I am uncertain who Krippner refers to in using the second person pronoun “you” in his response on Facebook, but if I pick up the pieces correctly, among other things, the “Filipino blackmailers” hacked into Krippner’s account and posted now-deleted messages, so the pronoun may refer to those who followed his page:
You have received some messages from the Filipino blackmailers. They have also sent numerous emails to the Saybrook president and staff. So this morning I was fired for actions “putting the institution at significant risk.”[2]
I would encourage you, my readers, to read the original post and the comments attached to it. There are a number of additional issues here I am ill-prepared to delve into.
To say the least, this is a saddening and troubling development for a university I have considered troubled since it began “teaching out” the Human Science program. (“Teaching out” means that enrolled students are permitted to finish their degrees, but that the program does not accept new students and is moribund.) At that time, I had still-unanswered questions about the school’s more-often-than-not shaky finances, which seemed to have declined precipitously with, not so much preceding, but with, the takeover by The Chicago School Educational Services (TCSES), an organization that, now at least, seems to have zero(!) web presence.
Accordingly, I continue to believe that if anyone has “put[] the institution at significant risk,” it would be TCSES and Nathan Long, long before Krippner.
Uber
Georgia Wells, “Uber Cites Tight Competition After Posting $1 Billion Loss,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ubers-first-quarter-loss-tops-1-billion-11559246846
Trade
My problem with so-called “free” (ask, for whom? to do what? to whom?) trade, apart from the fact it is a part of an exchange system of economics that inherently privileges whomever has the greater power to say no (hint: not workers), is that it forces workers to compete on terms outside their control: the cost of living, environmental regulation, working conditions, all in the name of so-called “efficiency.” Hence the oft-cited “race to the bottom” in wages and regulation that so animates neoliberalism.
For me, then, an appropriate use of tariffs would be to redress unfair competition. Workers and would-be workers cannot wait for the capitalist libertarian and neoliberal fantasy that as living standards rise in the developing world, the dire effects of deregulation and lower wages will ease. But the rich can certainly afford to wait a little longer for their fucking rents.
Now, Donald Trump proposes to use tariffs, up to 25 percent, to “punish” Mexico for unauthorized migration.[3]
White House officials did not immediately explain how driving up the cost of Mexican goods might stem the flow of migrants. If the tariffs damaged the Mexican economy, more of its citizens would try to cross the border to find work in the United States, experts said.[4]
So don’t even bother trying to make sense of this move on its own terms. It is, on those terms, completely irrational. The only way I see to make sense of it is that Trump can reliably rally his authoritarian populist base with the migration issue. It doesn’t matter whether what he’s doing makes any fucking sense whatsoever. It rallies his xenophobic base.[5]
David Randall, “World stocks drop, bonds rally as trade tensions fan growth fears,” Reuters, May 28, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets/global-recession-fears-hit-stocks-bonds-rally-idUSKCN1SZ02F
Damian Paletta, Nick Miroff, and Josh Dawsey, “Trump says U.S. to impose 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports beginning June 10 in dramatic escalation of border clash,” Washington Post, May 30, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-prepares-to-threaten-mexico-with-new-tariffs-in-attempt-to-force-migrant-crackdown/2019/05/30/0f05f01e-8314-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html
Damian Paletta, Taylor Telford, and Mary Beth Sheridan, “U.S. and Mexico plan summit in Washington on Wednesday in bid to head off trade dispute,” Washington Post, May 31, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/31/lawmakers-express-alarm-trump-forges-ahead-with-mexico-tariffs/
Israel
Whispers within Likud suggest Binyamin Netanyahu is at the end of his career.[6] That might be part of the story behind Avigdor Lieberman’s refusal to join Netanyahu’s coalition.[7]
Liel Leibovitz, “Avigdor Lieberman’s Risky Bet,” Tablet, May 30, 2019, https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/285621/avigdor-liebermans-risky-bet
Shalom Yerushalmi, “Behind closed doors, Likud officials blame Netanyahu and think about what’s next,” Times of Israel, May 31, 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/behind-closed-doors-likud-officials-blame-netanyahu-and-think-about-whats-next/
Donald Trump
Carol D. Leonnig and Rosalind S. Helderman, “Justice Department does not comply with court order to release transcripts of Michael Flynn’s conversations with Russian ambassador,” Washington Post, May 31, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justice-department-fails-to-comply-with-court-order-to-release-transcripts-of-michael-flynns-conversations-with-russian-ambassador/2019/05/31/9b4a6754-83b8-11e9-95a9-e2c830afe24f_story.html
- [1]Nathan Long to Saybrook Alumni list, “Update Regarding Dr. Stanley Krippner,” May 30, 2019.↩
- [2]Stanley Krippner, [social media post], Facebook, May 30, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/stanley.krippner.9/posts/1768601623272094↩
- [3]Damian Paletta, Nick Miroff, and Josh Dawsey, “Trump says U.S. to impose 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports beginning June 10 in dramatic escalation of border clash,” Washington Post, May 30, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-prepares-to-threaten-mexico-with-new-tariffs-in-attempt-to-force-migrant-crackdown/2019/05/30/0f05f01e-8314-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html↩
- [4]Damian Paletta, Nick Miroff, and Josh Dawsey, “Trump says U.S. to impose 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports beginning June 10 in dramatic escalation of border clash,” Washington Post, May 30, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-prepares-to-threaten-mexico-with-new-tariffs-in-attempt-to-force-migrant-crackdown/2019/05/30/0f05f01e-8314-11e9-bce7-40b4105f7ca0_story.html↩
- [5]Damian Paletta, Taylor Telford, and Mary Beth Sheridan, “U.S. and Mexico plan summit in Washington on Wednesday in bid to head off trade dispute,” Washington Post, May 31, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/05/31/lawmakers-express-alarm-trump-forges-ahead-with-mexico-tariffs/↩
- [6]Shalom Yerushalmi, “Behind closed doors, Likud officials blame Netanyahu and think about what’s next,” Times of Israel, May 31, 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/behind-closed-doors-likud-officials-blame-netanyahu-and-think-about-whats-next/↩
- [7]Liel Leibovitz, “Avigdor Lieberman’s Risky Bet,” Tablet, May 30, 2019, https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/285621/avigdor-liebermans-risky-bet↩