One of the most damaging moments in Republican politics in the last ten years was when Marco Rubio said in a debate in 2015, “We need more welders, not more philosophers,” setting up a bleak zero-sum picture of the world that divided American society among educational lines. I’ll admit, as a young right-winger at the time (in college), I…
One of the most damaging moments in Republican politics in the last ten years was when Marco Rubio said in a debate in 2015, “We need more welders, not more philosophers,” setting up a bleak zero-sum picture of the world that divided American society among educational lines. I’ll admit, as a young right-winger at the time (in college), I liked that line and I think my reaction to it had negative ramifications for the later trajectory of my life. Traveling in rightist circles for years, I’ve encountered this reverse-snobbery often, and eventually I came to something of the opposite conclusion. Not that we don’t need welders but that we need liberal arts education which sets up as its explicit goal that it is not trying to help anyone get a job.
Fortunately, there have always been a few conservative professors holding out against the mob, and there are some storied institutions which have long been dedicated to preserving the classic. What is conservatism for if not to protect the good things which have been passed down to us and defend them against time and fate and the vagaries of culture? Admittedly, I don’t think the Department of Education has any role in that - it’s been a goal of the conservative movement to abolish the DOE since Reagan.
Point of clarity: Musk isn’t really that right-wing. He’s mainly just anti-left. The right has such a low bar for what makes someone a right-winger these days that it’s sad.
One of the most damaging moments in Republican politics in the last ten years was when Marco Rubio said in a debate in 2015, “We need more welders, not more philosophers,” setting up a bleak zero-sum picture of the world that divided American society among educational lines. I’ll admit, as a young right-winger at the time (in college), I liked that line and I think my reaction to it had negative ramifications for the later trajectory of my life. Traveling in rightist circles for years, I’ve encountered this reverse-snobbery often, and eventually I came to something of the opposite conclusion. Not that we don’t need welders but that we need liberal arts education which sets up as its explicit goal that it is not trying to help anyone get a job.
Fortunately, there have always been a few conservative professors holding out against the mob, and there are some storied institutions which have long been dedicated to preserving the classic. What is conservatism for if not to protect the good things which have been passed down to us and defend them against time and fate and the vagaries of culture? Admittedly, I don’t think the Department of Education has any role in that - it’s been a goal of the conservative movement to abolish the DOE since Reagan.
Point of clarity: Musk isn’t really that right-wing. He’s mainly just anti-left. The right has such a low bar for what makes someone a right-winger these days that it’s sad.