Almost Classical

Not to belabor the point much more, but I believe there are some basic misconceptions within university humanities departments. I fear theoretical capitalism is being conflated with the modern "conservative" movement and "consumerism" which is, sadly, the dominant perversion of capitalism in practice.   First, our "Culture of Work" was not capitalist in origin so much as it was religious in origin. The notion that "idle hands and minds are the Devil's playthings" emerged long before modern capitalist theory. The religious zealotry of our earliest immigrants gave us that legacy, I would propose. Second, the "job skills" movement in universities is not a capitalist push to alter education. The managerial education can be traced to the early progressive ideals at places like the University of Wisconsin. For example, Woodrow Wilson praised Wisconsin for preparing the next generation of ...

This morning I was listening to an interview with Bill Bishop, author of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart. A few hours earlier, I had been reading the Washington Post online, skimming reader comments on the Detroit automaker mess. There, online, were prime examples of The Big Sort and the results of political isolationism. "Progressives" seem to truly believe that Republicans "hate the working class." Not just some Republicans, but every Republican. Of course, this is absurd, since many Republicans -- including political leaders -- come from the working class. In fact, Bishop pointed out during today's interview that Republicans are overwhelmingly middle class while the "progressive" wing of the Democratic party tends to be richer, better educated... and isolated. In some ways, this isolation is unavoidable. Academics must live near universities. Universities tend to be located in urban center...