> And because of those already in it, those 
  > oddballs who might value the ideal academy
  > rarely get hired. The metrics are different:
  > fund raising ability, collaboration, paper 
  > publishing, etc. It's just a regular 
  > self-promoting job now.

This is sadly true in many cases...and those oddballs, due to their eccentric nature and their inclination to avoid office politics, would hardly have the strength to fight this systematic encouragement for various digressions...

  > On the other hand, the world is such that 
  > you don't need credentials to do truly 
  > independent work. You do need time and a 
  > way of supporting yourself, but at least you 
  > have means to be heard.

Yes, I agree. But in C.Shannon's words, there is an issue of signal-to-noise ratio...sometimes, we have to rely on fortune to let some truly informative voice be picked up...