Argentina: Public University threatened? A vulture Operation flies over Latin America

It is true that Public Universities depend on a permanent critical and self critical debate that is a concrete and necessary demand, in the midst of the crisis that traverses the capitalist system. A crisis that is the product of the contradiction between Capital and Work; in other words between exploitation and unlimited enrichment of a parasitic minority that has weapons and property over Capital against the oppressed majority that need to find sources for life in the Work at the service of that Capital.

Students, teachers, administrative staff…and all those who support the Public Universities, directly or indirectly, must know that research, teaching, extension must be to serve a scientific solution to the problems that burden humanity. Scientists must be forged with intransigent ethical convictions and place their knowledge at the service of society and place commitment and effort to overcome backwardness and old habits that burden us: poverty, diseases, corruption, crime, inequality and misappropriation – even – of the scientific knowledge they plunder for moneyed benefits of a few.

But this project is threatened. What the Public Universities have advanced, democratizing themselves and democratizing the peoples is in the cross hairs of the henchmen of hungry neo liberalism and in hand and hand with the capable and servile work. The dominant idea is to condition the Universities to their own crisis of capitalism and sold to the highest monopolist bidder determining profit to use against the workers.

No scientist or intellectual is immune although many assume indifference or consider “overcome” all ties with the reality around them, the threats of capitalism are cruder and more real each day. “Objectivity” or “neutrality” has no worth in this thought of the ostrich claiming to defend the Public Universities while winking at the sellers of knowledge.

The Public Universities must be for the people to take part of scientific investigations, teaching and cultural expansion. Open democratic, universal and dynamic. It is not a “formative ideal” parceled out and abstract behind the back of society. The neo liberal threat wants revenge and submit the Universities to a type of mercantile knowledge that only serves the sector of the powerful to finance development of a negotiable science as bounty of the monopolies.

We must understand it is the world as is. Help ourselves with all the scientific knowledge, take advantage of the work of many honest universities that with their effort and experience that have supplied tools of analysis and scientific transformation of reality.

Not really a new current of thought goes through the Public Universities of the world. They include professors, non teaching workers, researchers and alumni. Increasingly there are more universities doing battle to free Science from the slavery at the service of the monopolies.

Only a Public University can develop as a tool of action for free thought and research, creators of theories, practices, sciences and arts. It is a long list of problems and tasks that must be overcome through science and political honesty but this work cannot be done by foreign agents of neo liberalism or by democratic forces of Universities from within and from its roots understanding that is the people themselves who sustain it.

From the Public Universities the teachers and students should return to society the investment made to train them. There should be a return of researchers, field work, technological development, etc that benefits all of society. This requires a battle and permanent scientific militancy.

There must be an emancipation of the material bases that will allow unity of theory and indispensable practice to humanize mankind with the help of the new Public Universities. A true defense of the Public University needs to guarantee state involvement of knowledge and in democracy to plan hierarchical scientific discipline in the most necessary fields urgently needed for economic and social development, The Public University must be supported economically by the national State and should be defended from the attacks of neo liberalism that today moves its pawns with the wings of the vultures funds.