How Kenyan online workers, PayPal and UK Govt entangled in a mess
April 13, 2019 5:20 AM Subscribe
How Russians Tap Kenyan Online Writers for UK Essay Gigs
I was once one of them.
This post was deleted for the following reason: poster's request -- LobsterMitten
Kenya is fascinating. (The 2017 general election alone is probably worth an FPP.) I am particularly interested in the abrupt, widespread adoption of mobile technology. As of 2015, paying for a taxi ride using your mobile phone was easier in Nairobi than it was in New York.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2019
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2019
Who decides what counts as work worth doing? Or an honest paying job?
While acknowledging that PayPal has been disgustingly racist toward Kenyans, and granting that economic pressures might justify taking whatever work is available, working at a plagiarism mill is most certainly not an honest job.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 7:36 AM on April 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
While acknowledging that PayPal has been disgustingly racist toward Kenyans, and granting that economic pressures might justify taking whatever work is available, working at a plagiarism mill is most certainly not an honest job.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 7:36 AM on April 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
The hilarious part, though, is that the uk students will get dumber by shirking their work, while the Kenyans effectively get paid to take uk classes. It's a net knowledge transfer... From an imperial power to its former colony. Is that sooooo wrong?
posted by kaibutsu at 8:29 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by kaibutsu at 8:29 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
Neat article. You know it would pretty meta if this article was ghost written for some student to satisfy coursework for a emerging topics in economics course or something like that.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:50 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 8:50 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
Writing a paper isn't taking a class. From the sounds of it, most successful essay writers are already college educated - likely more so than the shirking UK students they're profiting from. I don't really see where knowledge is being transferred. That being said, if we're apportioning blame, then I think the Kenyan workers are the last ones to get it in this case. I can understand undertaking a legally grey action if you're unemployed and desparate.
It does seem tricky to move to a crypto, though. My impression is that Bitcoin is volatile and swingy, so unless these enconomies are moving to dealing solely in BTC without cashing out into other currencies, you could stand to lose a lot of value just from some unrelating speculative activity in the market (although typing that out it's not too different from our current economy).
posted by codacorolla at 8:54 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
It does seem tricky to move to a crypto, though. My impression is that Bitcoin is volatile and swingy, so unless these enconomies are moving to dealing solely in BTC without cashing out into other currencies, you could stand to lose a lot of value just from some unrelating speculative activity in the market (although typing that out it's not too different from our current economy).
posted by codacorolla at 8:54 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
Finally, in Kenya, we are all caught up debating whether it is cheating or job creation
porque_no_los_dos.gif
posted by Going To Maine at 9:07 AM on April 13, 2019
porque_no_los_dos.gif
posted by Going To Maine at 9:07 AM on April 13, 2019
Writing a paper : taking a class :: harvesting : planting
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:08 AM on April 13, 2019
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 9:08 AM on April 13, 2019
If I didn't want to do the academic work, I wouldn't be going to university. It'd be more profitable for me to get a job for those years instead. Why would you waste time and money going to university and then pay someone else to do the work for you?
Because it is the entry pass to a job in the professional classes. You may not be interested in academia, but very interested in what academic qualifications buy you.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:18 AM on April 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
Because it is the entry pass to a job in the professional classes. You may not be interested in academia, but very interested in what academic qualifications buy you.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:18 AM on April 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
It's a net knowledge transfer... From an imperial power to its former colony. Is that sooooo wrong?
The higher education system serves many societal purposes - including generally up-skilling the population, and giving the wider economy a good way of assessing job candidates' competence. It only works because most people involved are honest enough to obey the rules (enforcement can only go so far); essay cheating can corrupt the education system's ability to achieve those purposes, and can in the end lead to weakening society's ability to cooperate and progress effectively.
It's nothing to do with who's involved - whether it's poor Kenyans or rich US parents cheating the system, the system still gets cheated and that's what the people involved in the system care about.
So yes, UK society and the UK government have every right to be alarmed at the essay mils, and every right to do what they need to do to prevent a good education system from being reduced to an expensive farce.
posted by vincebowdren at 10:21 AM on April 13, 2019
The higher education system serves many societal purposes - including generally up-skilling the population, and giving the wider economy a good way of assessing job candidates' competence. It only works because most people involved are honest enough to obey the rules (enforcement can only go so far); essay cheating can corrupt the education system's ability to achieve those purposes, and can in the end lead to weakening society's ability to cooperate and progress effectively.
It's nothing to do with who's involved - whether it's poor Kenyans or rich US parents cheating the system, the system still gets cheated and that's what the people involved in the system care about.
So yes, UK society and the UK government have every right to be alarmed at the essay mils, and every right to do what they need to do to prevent a good education system from being reduced to an expensive farce.
posted by vincebowdren at 10:21 AM on April 13, 2019
I am particularly interested in the abrupt, widespread adoption of mobile technology.
AMA
posted by infini at 10:54 AM on April 13, 2019
AMA
posted by infini at 10:54 AM on April 13, 2019
...working at a plagiarism mill is most certainly not an honest job.
This is definitely true.
However, the honesty level of such work is arguably within moral spitting distance of being a being a multi-level marketer, a real estate agent in Miami, a media spin-doctor consulting for politicians, a day trader or a handgun salesperson.
That is to say, economic circumstances oblige many of us to get our hands dirty. Jobs predicated on distorting the truth or misrepresenting reality are not rare.
posted by Construction Concern at 11:14 AM on April 13, 2019
This is definitely true.
However, the honesty level of such work is arguably within moral spitting distance of being a being a multi-level marketer, a real estate agent in Miami, a media spin-doctor consulting for politicians, a day trader or a handgun salesperson.
That is to say, economic circumstances oblige many of us to get our hands dirty. Jobs predicated on distorting the truth or misrepresenting reality are not rare.
posted by Construction Concern at 11:14 AM on April 13, 2019
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posted by gimonca at 6:03 AM on April 13, 2019