Bret Devereaux

Agree in general with your sentiment, but if your goal is to have an academic career in the humanities, it's not really a choice, that's literally the only way to get there.

The issue is that it isn't really a way to get there either.

You appear to be equivocating necessary and sufficient. I'm not defending the 'system' but it's not like there aren't any people with academic careers. No one is guaranteed success.

Look, I hear you but 'no one is guaranteed success' is an odd way to look at a situation where people who graduate from nationally recognized top programs in their field and maintain stellar, competitive CVs still don't get jobs because the job market is incredibly random.

And that's part of what I'm triyng to say here: success is almost entirely out of your hands. There *are* things you can do to disqualify yourself; there is nothing you can do to ensure success.

By way of example, this fellow (https://twitter.com/joestieb/status/1444370509995679753 …) - graduate colleague of mine - is being modest. His book is out with CUP, arguably the most prestigious publisher in our field. If his insane CV and achievements cannot get guarantee a job, nothing can.

At this point, pursuing a PhD in these fields isn't a career path. It's buying the world's most expensive lottery ticked for the world's lowest reward lottery. If you want to do that, fine. But let's be honest with what you are doing.