College Students Are Turning Away From the Humanities.

Is That a Problem for the Next Generation?

SL and I are on the board of a task force at a local university. The goal is to boost enrollment in courses offered by the English Department.

We were asked to help because we are incredibly good looking… and because we know a little bit about English and American literature… but mostly because we have spent our careers in sales and marketing.

The challenge: In the last ten years, enrollment in English and other Humanities has been down considerably. And it’s not just a local thing. It’s a problem throughout the US.

As a student of literature, art, and philosophy, I’ve long touted the benefits of a Liberal Arts-centered education. My argument is that whatever career a young person might end up following, there are three skills that most determine success: thinking analytically, writing coherently, and speaking persuasively.

I believe that to be true regardless of whether one ends up working as a teacher, an artist, an engineer, a lawyer, or a doctor. The rise to the top is a labyrinth of gaining respect and power by thinking well, writing clearly, and speaking convincingly.

Unfortunately, too few young people have been exposed to my argument. They see courses in literature, arts, and philosophy as useful only for teaching literature, arts, and philosophy. They have little interest in spending the rest of their lives earning an ordinary income. They want a life that is, in some way, more exciting. I’m sympathetic to them in that regard. But they are wrong in assuming that they will do better generally, and make more money, if they study the STEM curricula. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)

SL and I each have our own ideas about how to fix the problem. He suggested that we start by revising the school’s brochures to make the Humanities courses sound more interesting. I agree with that. Plus, I’d like to launch a campus-wide, multi-media advertising campaign promoting my thesis that a major in Liberal Arts is the very best way to get to the top of any business or organization. (I think I know how to sell that idea. And I think it should be fun to try.)

Meanwhile, here’s a link to a New Yorker essay by Nathan Heller titled “The End of the English Major.” Heller makes it crystal-clear that the problem we are facing here in South Florida is not a regional issue.

Petty Crime Is Causing Serious Capital Flight in Big, Blue Cities 

Large retail stores are shutting down in big cities across the US. The reason? Nobody wants to talk about it. It’s because of a massive spike in shoplifting.

The latest example: Walmart is closing its Portland, OR, stores, leaving hundreds out of work and thousands in Portland’s marginal communities without a local place to shop cheaply. When asked why they closed the stores, Walmart’s PR department gave vague answers. Understandably, they don’t want to be portrayed as running away from “underserved” communities.

Click here.

More on the Fentanyl Epidemic 

On the morning of July 25, 2020, Matthew Thomas took what he believed was a Percocet, a prescription drug for pain relief. He died moments later, the victim of fentanyl poisoning.

On Jan. 26, 2019, Austen Babcock took what he believed was cocaine. Unbeknownst to him, it was laced with fentanyl. He died shortly thereafter, another victim of fentanyl poisoning.

What I’ve been learning about the fentanyl epidemic since I wrote about it on March 3, [LINK] is pretty scary. Many, if not most, deaths caused by fentanyl are not due to overdosing on fentanyl per se, but to what appears be other drugs that are laced with unbelievably lethal doses of it.

If you’d like to know more, this report from Katie Spence, writing for The Epoch Times, makes it clear how ubiquitous the drug is and how easy it is for unsuspecting young people to be poisoned by it.