The Fall of Humanities

My thoughts on the public debate about the value of a liberal arts education. 

Student interest in the humanities — which include the classics, literature, languages, history, philosophy, and religion — has dropped dramatically in recent years. Only 8 percent of American undergraduates majored in a humanities field in 2007, compared with 17 percent in 1966, according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Competition being what it is, many parents have pushed their children towards STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math)  -- fields of study that are perceived to be most valued as careers.  21% of today's college students are pursuing a degree in business. Let's hope there are jobs for all of them.

I wish colleges could teach future managers how not to be a dick, but where would you even find people who could teach such a course?   

One caller to a talk show the other day summed up the elitist attitude of some technically educated  people: "Let's face it, Engineers are responsible for creating most of the wealth since they design and build the products.  All other disciplines are peripheral."

Hmmn I thought to myself, "Maybe so, but it takes an English major to tell consumers how to use the foolish thing."

Skip This Post if You Hate America

Meme:  an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture

I am not sure why we needed the word "meme" added to every day parlance.  We already had several servicable figures of speech in the American English language to describe the viral spread of an idea or fashion ---"Fad", "trend", "craze", "vogue",   to cite a few.  

But some folks just need to show how hip they are, so now we hip bloggers talk about memes rather than fads.

One of the sillier memes that I have heard in recent months is:  "Obama hates America."  It is  repeated daily* on every conservative radio show.    You hear the same rhetoric if you listen to any of the programs on FOX network

Recently, a variation of this trite conservative meme was uttered by Rudy Giuliani.  "Obama doesn't love America."  Along with sly insinuations that Obama was "not brought up to love America, like you and I."    And the president doesn't say nice things like Reagan and Clinton have said about America.
The hint of course is that Obama is a secret Muslim who despises the American way of life and is determined to destroy America.

Well, friends I am fed-up with the absurdity of conservatives on TV and Radio.  Last week I heard a guy named Mike Siegal say that Obama was an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the death of the female hostage who was reportedly killed  by ISIS.  Why?  Because he failed to sign-off on a mission to send US military units to rescue the hostage and some others.  This ankle biter sits behind a radio mike and asserts that the president is a murderer, to the delight of the morons who call-in/listen to the show.  

The rhetoric is more than absurd.  Words are stretched and folded back on each other to create a fictitious meme that has apparent substance but cannot survive unless the perceiver has drunk the Kool-Aid (another meme) which clouds the mind to any Truth other than the party line.

Don't get me wrong, I do not think Obama has been a great leader.  I think his lack of experience as an administrator coupled with some poor cabinet choices have contributed significantly to the deterioration of the US economic and diplomatic clout.  I would not vote for him again if I had it to do over.  The point is that there is room for legitimate criticism - based on results.    

Conservative talking heads seem to forget why Obama got elected in the first place.   A lot of voters felt like we needed a drastic change in 2008.  There was a huge shift of independent voters who had voted for Bush in 2004 but who became alienated by the Bush administration's arrogant excesses in the name of the 'war on terror' -  which had badly damaged US credibility around the world. 
Voters were further driven away from the republican party by the failure of the "small government" party to keep the government small and instead of tax and spend, they were cut-tax and spend.  Added to that was the palpable weakness of the McCain-Palin ticket.  Then came the stunning collapse of the financial sector, widespread job loss, and the clear indictment against unregulated free markets.   Compared to the alternative, Obama seemed to the majority like "not such a bad guy".  
If Obama was as much of a fascist as they claim he would certainly raid the offices and put these assholes in a cold and smelly jail for twenty years.  I know I would, if I was in charge.

Bored With Social Media

 Social media is boring and annoying.

The news event that prompted this epiphany was not one I particularly cared about.  It was the dedication of the new Ted Kennedy Center,  yesterday.  The mainstream news stories in print and on TV  were mostly upbeat, citing the strength of Kennedy's ability to form coalitions and find ways to compromise.

But a few ankle biting bloggers and muckraking radio hosts could not pass-up the opportunity to remind us of the low points of Kennedy's long career in the spotlight:  The infamous Chappaquiddick accident, and several (one might even say "too many") embarrassments involving alcohol and loose women.   

I am not a stalwart Kennedy supporter or fan, but I see no point in digging-up old dirt and thrusting it in the faces of those who wish to remember the man's accomplishments.  It's just small-minded and unseemly to stomp on another's memory.  In fact, it's shameful.

Which brings me to my point about social media.  There was a review of a book in todays Globe about how the Internet creates a perfect medium for public shaming.    

I was unaware of the trending nature of this phrase but you get a lot of hits when you Google it.

A conservative colleague of mine writes a blog that is virtually 99% full of shame.  He spends his day scouring the internet for juicy negative tid-bits about any politician or celebrity who is  liberal or progressive.  His posts are one sided, monotone and cynical.  He should be writing scripts for FOX news instead of wasting his time writing screeds that no one reads.    

See what I did there?  I could not help trying to write some shaming things about his blog, because I --- like every other human being -- am annoyed by information I am uncomfortable with.  We do not change our fundamental beliefs because of the conflicting info, instead, we become angry at the source of the conflicting info.  We want to shoot the messenger.  

There is another muckraker local radio talk guy and columnist for the worst newspaper in Boston, Howie Carr. His mocking sense of humor appeals to the lowest level of mouth-breathing NRA Liberal-haters.  Just listening to a few minutes of his callers tells you everything you need to know about low information ankle biting zealots.

When you read or listen to these nattering nabobs of negativism (thank you Spiro Agnew),
it is disturbing.  Because many of the accusations are true, at least partially true.  I do not know if these guys think they are are preaching to the choir or attempting to sway the congregation.  But if it is the latter, they should know they are creating just the opposite effect from what they intend. 

I am not going to try to educate anyone about Cognitive Dissonance. Look it up, you will see what I mean.

BTW, the same phenomenon is extant on the Liberal/Progressive side.  Facebook and Twitter provide click-easy ways to "share" a social philosophy that you agree with.  Preachers of doom screeching that Global Warming deniers are all unscientific boobs, gun owners are foolish co-conspiritors to every shooting incident, etc, etc.   

No one ends up convincing anyone of anything they didn't already believe.

If you deleted all the posts in Twitter or FB or Blogs that try to shame someone, all you have left are braggy posts about kids and travels, cute cat pix, and boring throwback pictures of someone's drunk uncle posing in speedoos.

It's just annoying.

Aging Homeowners Dilema

Well, I'm back in print, (or online anyhow)  See my latest piece in the Boston Globe about aging in place.

click on this  link

If you leave a comment on the Globe page (as opposed to twitter or Facebook)  about the keen insights or even to add a thought that I had omitted  it makes me seem more popular.

The Fragility of Memory

Brian Williams has had the worst week ever for a journalist. Disclosure of his mis-remembrances have become the news. 
The sudden departure of the veteran NBC newscaster has enthralled the media.  The feeding frenzy of news hyenas is disturbing.  Williams seems to have few friends in the business; he has been excoriated up and down the ideological spectrum.  

Jon Stewart on the Daily Show last week admitted  that he and Williams are good friends, then proceeded to skewer him.

Now that's journalistic integrity from a fake news guy.  





It started with the revelation of an embellished recounting of a helicopter ride to Baghdad twelve years, in 2002.

Now, most of us would have given him a "mulligan" on that one. Who among us has not mis-remembered a key event in our lives or hasn't embellished a story to make it more compelling?  (As a writer, I make-up stuff all the time and justify any integrity issues by playing the "literary License" card.)  

But then another slew of "false" memory situations have been whispered about - The time I met the Pope, Tom Brokaw and me at the Berlin Wall, The body floating by in Katrina, and others that you have already read somewhere else.  Its not that these memories are so dastardly, or evil --after all, no one was hurt by him trying to include himself in important world events.  It is real life imitating art, reminiscent of  "Zellig," or "Forrest Gump." 

So, this pattern of mis-remembering events that can be proven to be false will threaten Williams' reputation as a serious journalist.  On the other hand, Hillary Clinton's famous memory error (having to duck bullets in Baghdad) was forgiven by the faithful.  Perhaps Williams can be rehabilitated also.  I just hope we don't start having a bunch of women coming forward with accusations of assault or cell phone boner pictures.

Maybe Williams should apply for Jon Stewart's job.  He could say he has had experience with fake news.... sorry could not resist that.
                                              ***

A Confession

Have you ever  been in a group when the conversation turned to celebrity sightings, and you "borrowed" an experience from someone else.  I feel that it is time to recant a false memory of my own: I hereby confess that I have never encountered Leon Redbone in a restaurant.  The story I have recounted several times over the  years was actually the experience told to me by a workmate many years ago.  Whenever the topic turned to celebrity sightings, I

Leon Redbone - Never met him.

would trot this vignette out with only a slight tingle of self awareness that it had not really happened to me.  It seemed better to lie, than to have no story to tell.  There, now that you know, do you think I should be punished or reviled?  I rationalize it by reminding myself  that one must never let the facts spoil a good story.    

Research shows that we constantly edit our memories.  (Don't expect me to do the work to support that statement.  The proof is everywhere on the Internet.  Don't be so lazy.)  It's not a matter of morality or ethics, since Truth is what our memories tell us is true.

My point is that much of what we believe to be true is based on our memories of events that we saw with our own eyes.  But if you have siblings (or adult children) you probably realized that there is an unexplained phenomenon where events/conversations that  you recall in great detail are denied by the other witnesses.

The fragility of memory is a little intimidating, especially as we age, where the grasp on reality seems like a small and slippery rail on an icy staircase.