I am currently enrolled in a PhD program, but it’s pretty miserable. For one, I don’t want to be a college professor. They are often oppressive, parasitical, and produce little of value. Not all, but the academic system is rotten to the core and being part of it in the long term seems immoral. I mainly signed up for it because I enjoy research, and there is currently a tech job recession. I am 3 months into the program and have not done an inch of actual research. Instead, I have wasted time on useless undergraduate-style courses and being a teaching assistant. I am surrounded by non-whites as well. Easily 85% of my department are foreign. In conditions prior to this tech job recession,
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