Saturday, June 20, 2020

Defunding the Humanities

Australia is leading the way. We all know that if a college student wants to improve his or her work prospect, he does best to major in STEM subjects. If he wants to write himself out of the highest paying jobs, he should major in the arts, the humanities and perhaps even social science.

So, Australia has decided that it will cease subsidizing those students who want to study the arts and the humanities. In short, if you choose one of those majors in Australia, you are on your own. You will be paying for it yourself. If you major in a STEM subject, the government will be helping you out. Thus, you will be paying less than you had before.

From ABC News, Australia:

If you want to study arts and humanities, you will simply have to pay for it yourself.

Experts say this is essentially the effect of the Federal Government's proposed overhaul of tertiary education.

The plan more than doubles the cost of studying most humanities subjects at university, but slashes the cost to students of what the Government deems to be "job-relevant" courses.

It means someone studying humanities or communications will be in the same fee bracket as law students.

An art student's contribution to the cost of their degree is now higher than someone doing medicine.

For someone doing humanities, the cost of their contribution to their degree is now almost exactly equal to the cost of teaching the degree.

Amusingly, the Australian government places humanities education in the same category as another useless course of study: law school. Strange that they would be contesting the value of a legal education. 

Or perhaps, not so strange. After all, America produces far too few computer engineers and far too many lawyers. Do you really believe that we will be able to compete against the rising economic powers in Asia by sending our lawyers out to do economic battle against their legions of STEM majors.

It feels like just what the doctor ordered. Ask yourself how many of the protesters and demonstrators and rioters running wild on America’s streets majored in the arts and the humanities. And how many of them majored in STEM subjects.

One suspects, without having any evidence, that most of those who are looting and pillaging and destroying statues are doing what they know how to do. And perhaps it’s all they know how to do. How many of them are trained computer scientists? How many of them never made it to college?

So, maybe Australia has the right idea.

6 comments:

  1. "And perhaps it’s all they know how to do. How many of them are trained computer scientists?"

    I doubt if many rioters are computer scientists, but I do know people who are computer scientists who are quite far to the Prog side; also people with true expertise in other fields; also successful businesspeople. The appeal of prog-ism seems to be quite broad.

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  2. "So, maybe Australia has the right idea."

    So do Poland, Romania, and Hungary in banning "gender studies".

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  3. This is one of the best proposals I have read in years. The only recommendation I have is to triple the cost of a "arts and humanities" degree. Excellent thinking from Australia. Hopefully, this severs the humanities from the university entirely.

    It saves the humanities from the hatred of the humanities that currently infects our universities. Humanities can return to people who love ideas and meet together in pubs and libraries to exchange books and exchange letters together. They'll know what to do with these ideas: treasure them.

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  4. When your argument for your actions consists entirely of " F*** You! " you obviously have no connection to the arts and humanities, to the great ideas and ideals of human existence.

    When you stand where the statue you just pulled down falls on your head, it is plain you know nothing of action and reaction. Not a STEM student, then.

    G. Bruno, once again you have an excellent idea.

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  5. Tammly.

    Never mind tripling the cost of Humanities study to students - defund the Humanities in universities ie withdraw tax payer support.

    It can't come to Britain soon enough.

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  6. Ah, "progressives". Just the word "progressive" brings "cancer" immediately to my mind.

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