Stewart Lee on university funding and the arts

by on January 30, 2012

Video Rating: 4 / 5

{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

MrAntihollywood January 30, 2012 at 10:18 am

To laika288

I did not go to university, as I could not afford it then nor can I afford it now. Thankfully I can write essays of no value without paying for them and just have my mates giggling at incoherent/nonsensical stories I write. It’s worth every penny of free, it cost nothing to speak shite in an erudite way. See my irony. :-D

From Suds X

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cbsman95 January 30, 2012 at 11:06 am

I disagree with Stu, If someone learns something and they use it, for a script or song, or to cure cancer /invent something, then that IS worthwhile. But if they keep it locked up in their head, it has no financial value, an it has no value inherent to me .I’m not SAYING nobody gives it intrinsic value , but you enjoy it, you pay for it
This isn’t reactionary, I am using Utilitarianism here.

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sundersart January 30, 2012 at 11:31 am

@cbsman95 You did not really listen to this did you?,

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sundersart January 30, 2012 at 11:46 am

People need to wake up and stop thinking of the government as this mother figure. It is a system designed to protect and support elite institutions.They take your taxes, and spend it on things that do not benefit you or your family. In order to justify the huge tax they keep you in fear and they keep you ignorant. An educated population without debt, would rapidly transform your life for the better.

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daverigby23 January 30, 2012 at 12:18 pm

The more I find out about Stewart Lee, the more I like him

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T800System January 30, 2012 at 12:55 pm

Couldn’t agree with this man more! Right on, Lee!

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warriorprince1010 January 30, 2012 at 1:20 pm

@danslog Try to make a point and not just tyring to sound clever with immature soundbites. You are pointless.

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laika288 January 30, 2012 at 1:23 pm

He’s absolutely spot on I feel. To many people’s surprise I didn’t go to university to get an executive job in a corporate environment out of it. I went because I enjoy learning about literature and politics. The fact that I have written essays on Mayakovsky, vampires and T.S.Eliot is of little instrumental value to most employers but as Stewart so rightly pointed out the intrinsic value of it is always underestimated and usually disregarded completely.

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danslog January 30, 2012 at 1:26 pm

@warriorprince1010 relevant?

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warriorprince1010 January 30, 2012 at 2:19 pm

@FractalZero “This isn’t North Korea.”…I am sure Brown would have liked that.

As I say art should be funded by people not corrupt governments.

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FractalZero January 30, 2012 at 2:55 pm

@warriorprince1010

This isn’t North Korea.

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warriorprince1010 January 30, 2012 at 3:37 pm

The government funding arts is obviously the worst.

In North Korea all arts are state fudned and promote the corrupt government.

Uni should be paid for by the the taxes we pay and no top up fees. Introduced by unemployment Brown.

However art should be funded by people with tax cuts. As for a profit, Lee makes plenty of money.

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IINesasta January 30, 2012 at 3:45 pm

Watching this feeling almost as if I’ve learned something, I then notice the advert on the right for ‘Micky Flanagan’s First live DVD’ … what a buzz-kill.

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ryko26 January 30, 2012 at 4:31 pm

“people on the way to the theatre were buying crisps”

He is fucking great.

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AutumnCherry January 30, 2012 at 5:18 pm

@grolis666 Harsh much? Oh well, you seem to think I was insulting your intelligence. I’m sorry about that. I just wasn’t sure you understood that Stewart was saying that sort of education is priceless. But I guess you disagree with that view of his. Toodle-pip!

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grolis666 January 30, 2012 at 5:48 pm

@AutumnCherry So you’re not sure if I get it or not. That is because you’re not very intelligent. Don’t worry I’m sure it doesn’t make you a bad person, but you might find that you struggle in life. Let me put your mind at rest. I do. Now read the comment that came after your sad attempt, and then go away.

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billhicks8 January 30, 2012 at 6:35 pm

While Norse Literature like all knowledge, should be valued, understood and passed on that does not make it an economically viable subject over a more applicable career to the modern world. This is the reality a student will see when they step out into work-a-day life, and therefore a warning is sometimes necessary for those aspiring to niche professions.

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AutumnCherry January 30, 2012 at 7:00 pm

@grolis666 I don’t think you get it.

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domnal January 30, 2012 at 7:47 pm

Life is all about luxury but few people understand the word !!
One could consider not having to kill your own meat as a luxury !!
Civilisation does seem to be going backwards caused mainly by the more obviously uneducated politicians who look down on the study of anything that they can’t make a quid out of !! They want a ready supply of gullible kids to exploit .
proper education would prevent that !! It did in the past. !!

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domnal January 30, 2012 at 7:53 pm

I knew something important was lost when young adults started to speak about “Uni?”
Whatever happened to University – Oh I know- too many syllables !!
A lot of people can’t say my name because it has two syllables !!

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domnal January 30, 2012 at 8:38 pm

My problem with graduates today in fact from about 1990 onwards is that most of them cannot string a sentence together in standard English !! Stuart Lee is not one of those because he is a rarity !! . He is speaking for education in the true sense of the term and he is speaking up for Art in general !! I think he has hit a nail on the head here as the attitude to the Arts is what defines society . We can’t all be millionaire businessmen gobshites with no conversation we have too many already !!

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domnal January 30, 2012 at 9:36 pm

I understand his point and his argument !! My wife did a degree in Hispanic Studies and she would almost become murderous if someone asked her ” Oh are you going to teach that ? ” That wasn’t the rub !! The rub came when they could not understand when she said “No I did the degree purely out of interest I have no intention of becoming a teacher” I love her !! . I believe in Art for art’s sake :that value has long disappeared from our lives today.. Thank you Stuart !!

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grolis666 January 30, 2012 at 10:23 pm

I had to check your age.43, really? I wasn’t being rhetorical, there really is a real world. Second. However you define, ” we,” there is no conscious decision about how it is.
I reckon you’re no more than 18, tops.

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bobbydj01 January 30, 2012 at 10:27 pm

So let me get this straight. By identifying aspects of rhetoric in your comments that can serve to limit the ways in which its possible to view a situation it is actually me that is shutting down the discussion? Second question – if we don’t decide how the world is, who does?

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