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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Expanding the Genre

How many stories are there premised on somebody thinking that they can outsmart the Devil in a deal for their soul that gives the person their soul, too, in the end? How many stories are there about other smart guys who think they can word their wish to a genie in a way to avoid any possible bad interpretation of the letter of the wish?

We can add to that genre of work in the era of Hope and Resolve. A number of college professors are horrified that ObamaCare will cost them money:

The federal health-care overhaul is prompting some colleges and universities to cut the hours of adjunct professors. [...] The Affordable Care Act requires large employers to offer a minimum level of health insurance to employees who work 30 hours a week or more starting in 2014, or face a penalty. The mandate is a particular challenge for colleges and universities, which increasingly rely on adjuncts to help keep costs down as states have scaled back funding for higher education.

Not that this is widespread. We shall see how most schools address the cost issue.

This reaction by one instructor is priceless, however:

“I think it goes against the spirit of the [health-care] law,” Mr. Balla said. “In education, we’re working for the public good, we are public employees at a public institution; we should be the first ones to uphold the law, to set the example.”

Ah, the "spirit" of the law. That's a common ending in the genre. Who knew a school could uphold the clear letter of the law without considering how it would affect Mr. Balla? Forfend!

And I love that "public good" bit. You know, firefighters, police, soldiers ... and adjunct professors of English. You know. Those guys.

Somebody has to pay for this law, but who could have imagined that adjunct professors might be the ones to pay rather than the ones to benefit from the spirit of the law?

Nancy Pelosi had it wrong. We didn't have to pass the bill to find out what was in it. We had to implement it to see how the spirit of the act matches what is in it.

This will work out swell.