The problem with the whole idea of tenure is that most men and women make their biggest creative contributions to society while they are in the early part of their lives. Giving people tenure after 10 years in professorial servitude is not going to allow for much creativity, and doesn’t. How many tenured professors actually contribute anything original? Sorry Rob, but I don’t buy your premise that most tenured professors are highly productive individuals. I don’t buy your other premise that people need protected professorships in order to have intellectual freedom. Intellectual freedom exists for anyone who has the guts to pursue their own ideas. The problem is that you fear the collectivist control of your environment, and that is a legitimate fear. But you don’t fix that problem by hiding behind your tenure. Fact is, if you teach almost anywhere in the USA these days, you are either indebted to government for your salary or you work directly for government. Government control of education, tenure or not, is the real problem.
