I don't really mind, because I love what I do. But I look forward to the possibility of tenure as compensation for all these lean years. Nevertheless, several good arguments can be made against tenure . First, some large research universities deliberately hire more tenure-track professors than they can possibly keep . At one point, one English department had ten people competing for two slots.
Students suffer when professors mistrust their colleagues.
Working in such environments can't be pleasant for very long. Fortunately, there is no such competition in my department. Second, while a tenured professor can be fired for incompetence or gross misconduct, universities often feel it is better just to wait for troublemakers to retire . Because lawyers are always happy to sue on behalf of a fired professor. And tuition will have to rise in order to pay for all those legal fees.