Earlier today Mills quoted Charles Murray on the topic.
“First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being taught. We will attach a large economic reward to it that usually has nothing to do with what has been learned. We will urge large numbers of people who do not possess adequate ability to try to achieve the goal, wait until they have spent a lot of time and money, and then deny it to them. We will stigmatize everyone who doesn’t meet the goal. We will call the goal a “B.A.””
Mills adds,
Charles Murray in an arresting piece on America’s absurd, outmoded, socioeconomically cruel university system (thanks dad!). While at Bard I’d not have understood his points; my time at LSU illustrated his thesis: for many students, the B.A. is an artificial goal, often unattainable and usually unrelated to their subsequent careers; it is, in most cases, a token reward for waiting and surviving in the back of the classroom for a few years while sinking deep into debt. Perhaps its primary function is to communicate that one was able to afford not to work for some years: a class badge.
Jhn Brssdn agrees with Mills and adds,
This chimes with my thoughts over the past couple of days regarding the graduation ceremonies being held at my university, which can all be filed under: how much I hate all the crappy pomp and ceremony that goes with higher education and academic achievement. The caps and gowns; the bowing and scraping; the letters after the name. Mills and Murray articulate exactly what I couldn’t put my finger on: the divisive, constructed and class-based nature of it all. Having worked at a university for five years, I find myself wondering more and more what it would be like were we to remake “higher” education outside the medieval frameworks that still imprison it, and outside the artificial scarcities imposed by capital and copyright.
With respect, I disagree. But I think Mills and John raise some issues worth discussing.
First, is it sensical for a society to encourage as many people as possible to dedicate themselves full time to education for so many years? I think it does. Do we have anything better to do with a bunch of talented 18 to 22 year olds? A century or two ago, we might have dedicated them to farming—but we currently have more food than we know what to do with. We could dedicate them to making stuff—but we have more stuff than we know what to do with. In the U.S. any problems of want are problems of distribution, not of supply. Higher education is a good schtick, if you can get it. Prioritizing education does not come at the cost of anything more pressing. (Or, put differently, we’re not ignoring a heap of injustices because we care too much about education. We’re ignoring them because we care too little about injustice.)
Second, is a college education worth anything? Actually, let’s rephrase that—because I don’t think Mills, John, or I are talking about the kind of education where you learn useful things. I don’t think either of them would object to somebody spending four years learning to be a doctor or an engineer. Nor am I inclined to defend a “college education” that amounts to four years of sleeping through class and binge-drinking while Mom & Dad foot the bills. I’m not a fan of sloth.
I think we’re talking about the classic Liberal Arts education you get at a school like Bard (for Mills) or Williams (for myself). I learned a lot of things in my four years at Williams. I read Ulysses. I took a class on hyperbolic three-manifolds. I took a class called “Hierarchies in International Relations and Critical International Political Economy.” I wrote a bunch of poems. I learned some Latin. Let’s stipulate that I’ll never actually use any of these things for any practical purpose. This isn’t strictly true—but it’s close enough.
What’s gained by dedicating the entirety of four years to such a random assortment of seemingly-useless topics? Are graduates simply four years older and a hundred thousand dollars poorer? They certainly didn’t learn to fix a leaky roof. They probably didn’t even learn any of the skills they’ll need in their first or second job. But perhaps they learned something about creativity or communication. Perhaps they learned to connect things that are worth connecting or question things that are worth questioning. Perhaps they learned to solve problems faster. Perhaps they learned to question their assumptions or their place in the world. And if the problems of the next decade require different tools than the problems of the past decade, perhaps they’ll be better equipped to handle them. Maybe knowing a bit of history will keep us from repeating some mistakes. Maybe studying mathematics will teach us to approach problems more rigorously. Maybe studying literature will help us learn about human motivation. Perhaps studying another culture will help us see the limitations of our own. And, perhaps by throwing all of ourselves into a field we love, we’ll learn something about ourselves, about what we want to do, and about why we want to do it.
We know that increased literacy and basic education bears tangible fruits in other countries. An educated populace is good for a country. Of course, by the end of middle school, we should know how to read, know enough math for most purposes, and know enough civics to cast a ballot. Is there a point where further education is simply self-absorbed wankery? If there is, I don’t think we’ve reached it.
Third, is a college degree class badge? Of course. But I don’t think we should hold that against it. An iPhone is also a class badge. So is a really nice car. None of these things are just class badges. People spend a lot of money on them because they consider them valuable. But, as class badges go, a college education is remarkably egalitarian. The best schools in the country also have the best financial aid packages. Access to the best education increasingly has more to do with what you’re capable of and less to do with who your parents are. I think you would be hard pressed to find a more culturally and socio-economically diverse community than some of the elite colleges. Nor do I think you can find an institution that contributes more to the push against social stratification.
