Should We Let Academia Collapse?

[@Penguinz13989]

I’m a history major. I was hoping to learn about history. The professors’ priorities are to teach progressivism, feminism, then to bash trump (literally, when it has nothing to do with the subject matter), then to bash white Europe, and at the bottom of the priority list, is to teach history. I’ve been let down

[@FBFilmstudios]

Penguinz13989 at least go back yourself and read Story of Civilization, and try to self-educate in non-marxist historiography

[@jjgrey1488]

The MarketPlace would fundamentally collapse MOST (but not all) of Academia...let it happen...

[@LucidCoder]

I’ve got a simple idea to improve the quality and reduce the cost of a college education: get government out of it. Stop guaranteeing low interest loans to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. If you need a loan, let banks decide based on your grades, test scores, school of choice, and declared major whether you are a good investment. Make parents co-sign if you want a better loan. No more defaults. No more worthless majors. No more exploding tuition costs because now colleges have to be more affordable, especially for useless degrees. Get the free market involved. Too bad if some kids aren’t smart enough for college. It was only going to make them debt slaves anyway. Learn a trade.

[@davidlynch8197]

Don't require students to take the Humanities.

[@nitromethane3432]

Yes!

[@LucidCoder]

It’s traditional in a classical education to broaden your interests by taking classes outside your main area of study. There is nothing wrong with the humanities like Philosophy and Literature, but the new, made-up subjects like “Gender Studies” shouldn’t be promoted and certainly not subsidized.

[@EngY2502]

@@timtheenchanter340 I have to disagree on the philosophy part. I know the philosophies about religion and existence is a bit boring, but the philosophies regarding human moralities and ethics are the important ones, especially towards science and engineering majors.

[@LucidCoder]

@@timtheenchanter340 I'm with you and agree for the most part. Where we might disagree is in whether people should ever take a Humanities class. I say leave it up to them but don't encourage it. Michael Knowles talked about how much he values a liberal education. You're right that you can study it in your own time, but we shouldn't make any laws about it. I'd say that these classes should stand on their own merit. If they are such a poor value, people should avoid them and read on their own. Let the Universities fight declining enrollment by lowering prices or other incentives. Also, for many schools, you don't have to pay for a class unless you want to be graded. You can just audit them (sit in). In another post, I said that bank lenders should get to approve or disapprove of loans based on the students' scores, intended school, and planned major. Don't lend money to people who are going to waste it on a useless degree. Make them pay for it out of pocket and see how many people major in "Women's Studies".

[@daisycotter387]

On-line learning is the future for ALL of education not just Universities.

[@pythonBlender7]

The 3 percent (liberal arts) that he wants to save though in my opinion is amoung the most accessible content on the internet. So burn that 3 percent. It has a new home on KZbin where lectures are free and ideas far better formatted.

[@someguy9431]

KZbin? Me thinketh not.

[@ErickaWilliamsCC]

Young folks still need trades, skills and just cuz the internet can show you how to doesnt mean you are certified to build a house, do electric work, or heart surgery. Reset in prices sure.

[@alexandergarcia5184]

@@pomponi0 and it's also than as well

[@iR3vil4te]

It’s like Atlas Shrugged. Let the universities collapse, it’s immoral to keep something you know is evil on its feet. Let it die, and build something better in its place.

[@broj92]

There are a lot of issues in higher education including limiting speech, student debt, etc. However, as a scientist and academic (biomedicine) it disappoints me to read the comments. I think in today's society it's very easy to generalize and cubby hole the concept of the university setting as some "marxist, liberal echochamber." But if you ever step foot into a basic science lab or work in research on a university campus, you realize that these issues being discussed are not representative of all disciplines.

[@someguy9431]

Yes, God willing!

[@mcooper7743]

Should we? Yes!

[@blueshade5553]

Absolutely let college go. Worthless institution. Trade schools would be better for most people. Liberal arts can be learned via self study. I have learned a lot of liberal arts myself and it's probably more than graduates know.

[@BraveSquaw67]

Yes.

[@jokerace8227]

It isn't about letting Academia collapse, more that it cannot be prevented from finishing the ongoing collapse.

[@JV-tg2ne]

Academia collapse you ask? YES LET IT BURN

[@lydiafife8716]

Education at the college level could be presented and achieved by the time we leave high-school.

[@utkarshanand9706]

I agree completely with the guy who asked the question. As for liberal arts, it’s only relevant if it’s leisure for enough people. Just like going to a party or restaurant, if you enjoy it and are willing to pay for it, sure, go ahead. But you shouldn’t really be crying for others to pay for it. They don’t owe anything to you.

[@subsonic9854]

Just 2 cents from another history graduate: I like knowles' intent here, which seems to mirror victor hanson's in a recent nat review column. However i think they are mistakenly equating a history degree with general awareness of history. The goal should be for everybody in society, including engineer and IT graduates rather than just liberal arts majors, to have enough knowledge of history that, whether or not students agree with what they are taught, everybody is at least on the same page. Knowles and vdh are public figures because of their politics and values, not their education or research. Professional historians are trained to investigate the most boring or obscure minutiae of their specialties (ex, changing attitudes toward communism in a remote se asian community) rather than a broad narrative which you expect everybody in your society to know (ex, the spread of communism in eastern europe and china and what america did about it). When vdh laments that few recent grads know why battle X or battalion Y is important to understanding ww2, or knowles expresses similar sentiments, thats a cry for the society to have shared general knowledge from an american perspective, even among engineers and IT people, not just liberal arts grads. Any other history people here? ^_^

[@ehH-bd9eu]

Yes

[@West_Kagle]

. So, basically you're saying that between the hard work in High School, and the hard work when you begin studying for real to get a future job, kids get a 4 year slack fest to fill their heads with empty rhetoric? No......that sounds terrible. When my two oldest daughters went off tho college, they both took courses the archive their end goals from day one (one to become a chef the other took computer design and programming courses to work in the gaming industry). The Early college years, isn't suppose to be a temporary break from your intended studies, it's meant to be a means to an end.....get in, learn what you need to get a job that let's you not only survive but thrive in the real world, get out and start your real life. I've said it before......there are way to many people in college who should not be there.

[@farnumbp]

The technical colleges still have some merit

[@mzk1489]

This is the Colleges' fault. In the 60's they has a whole campaign, "if you want a good job, get a good education".

[@RangerCaptain11A]

when a business turns out a crap product, they eventually fail. universities are doing that now.

[@lilliedoubleyou3865]

But michaels main thesis seems to rely on honest professors who will actually teach a philosophically defensible liberal arts curricula. What makes LA so important is what makes it so combustible: if your liberal arts education isn’t teaching the classics, orienting students toward classical liberal thought, it can be co-opted by illiberal ideas. Structuralism, post-structuralism, post-modernism, and all their illiberal offshoots. And that’s what we’ve got now. Except for Hillsdale, Grove City, a handful of Protestant universities, and the tiny Cardinal Newman-listed schools, higher ed is a philosophical wasteland.

[@West_Kagle]

. No need to run the video. I can answer in one word.......yes.

[@isharoxyo]

Yes. Let it crumble.

[@nakuljoy9008]

or just major in Engineering or science. Personally I think liberal arts should be studied as minors or on your own free time. Even majoring in some business degrees without getting real work experience can be a waste of time. Don't mean to offend liberal arts majors. I guess I'm close minded when it comes to choosing majors but STEM is the safest and most practical way to go

[@daveco1270]

Where was was this?

[@jo5356]

Yes!! been there and its awful even where you wouldnt think so

[@FBFilmstudios]

Hire homeschoolers directly and train them.

[@joshuamitchell5018]

God that all sounds like such a glorious cleansing but sadly no. Academia needs to exist otherwise there’s no new youth able to have their (useful) trade studies funded.

[@JJG86]

Would be good to purge college and university administrators and professors

[@mlcamc77]

👍👍

[@Thugshaker_thequaker]

I agree with this however, I would argue that the liberal ideology has heavily influenced the college interpretation of our culture. By that I mean they will define the state of our society how the liberals view it and not for what it really is.

[@anonymaus8191]

Yes. It should collapse.

[@jaydoublegee2831]

LET'S NUKE IT 💥

[@trevrystrom2682]

In a word, yes. At least the useless parts of the academic establishment (ie probably most of it).

[@RHECNCTrump]

I agree yet disagree I work 10 hours and have a family I cook for then have devoted an hour of research on political propaganda

[@qkchen57]

No more sociology majors, please.

[@levelwithz3779]

I'm with Knowles most of the time but I'm not buying the spiel on the Liberal Education. At least not for the reasons he states.

[@boenjj1166]

We're proud to be Democrats wheel of the Bohemian Grove we love the new world order wheel of the Illuminati

[@DrumRoody]

Let it burndown and vape the ashes

[@joshclyde9347]

Feels like this question was set up. This guy is a plant.