The
Unreal World of College
Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 2/11/18
What
do Bret Favre, Jimmy Buffett, William Bennett and I have in common? Not much, except that we all either attended
or taught at the same university.
Favre excelled with the Green Bay Packers for
16 seasons; Buffett became a famous rocker, a successful businessman, and the
nation’s biggest promoter of partying hard; Bennett became U.S. Secretary of
Education, the nation’s Drug Czar, an historian, and a successful radio talk
show host. I became a little ‘ole
English teacher.
What
we had in common was the decision to take advantage of the unreality of college. As an 18-year-old at a small yet outstanding
junior college, I sensed that college was quite removed from what we call the
“real world.” When I transferred to
Favre-Buffett-Bennett-land, it seemed even more so. Buffett and I were at the University of
Southern Mississippi at the same time. Favre and Bennett came later, Favre to
excel on the football field, Bennett to teach philosophy and religion.
I’m grateful for a college experience that
deepened my knowledge of the world. I
particularly wanted to learn history, basic economics, literature, a bit about
the philosophies and political systems that have shaped the world, and natural science
(facts, not theories).
Right away I learned
that college work can benefit anyone who will study. College life
– please see my distinction – can often do the opposite. It can lead students to a view of the world
that is lofty and condescending, turning them away from the practical life and
common sense. Wallowing too long in
philosophy, literature, or even history, and attending debates between famous
writers or historians who have never gotten their hands dirty can transport
19-year olds into a dreamy world from which many never return.
Appreciating what
college was providing me, I still observed early on that colleges were growing
into a hungry social behemoth that was asserting its self-importance and
arguing that tax-payers should feed its voracious appetite.
Taxpayers are funding
Marriott-like dorms, resplendent student union buildings, and college president
salaries that often match those of private CEO’s. Add to the “Gimme, gimme” cry of our colleges
the snowflake crybabies that colleges are producing and you can see why Joe
Taxpayer is getting a bit fed up. Like
medical costs, college costs are entirely out of whack.
Academia continues to move leftward. What is it about college teaching that draws
leftists? Teaching is essentially a
conserving activity. Its purpose is to
pass on knowledge to the next generation in order to keep individuals and the
society functional.
But somewhere along the
way indoctrination and bias entered the picture. Higher education, with rare exceptions, has
become an engine for moving progressive (liberal) doctrine forward. Consider the following terms that originated
from the college scene and are now embedded in our collective psyche.
“Lifestyle” allows and
justifies any way of life that anyone prefers.
Forget nature’s way. Pursue your
own. Aren’t all things relative,
personal, or situational? Don’t be
moralistic. Be broadminded. Accept the views of others. (But don’t dare
have any of your own.)
“Self-fulfillment,” the
oxymoron straight out of psychology classes, settled in decades ago and has
been gaily embraced. It’s the opposite
of self-denial and putting others first, as many Americans 50 and older were
taught to do. It’s probably the cause of
many a divorce.
“Deconstructionism” is
a big word, but we need to understand it since it has penetrated history,
literature, and theology. “Deconstruct,”
according to the wisdom of the university, is what every reader should do. Books and articles no longer have text; they
only have words that beg for interpretation.
So break the President’s speech down (or the Constitution, the Bible, or
Jefferson or Adam Smith), turn it over in your subjective mind, and tell others
what it means. Meaning depends on the
reader.
Colleges have left
their first love. Knowledge now takes a
back seat to the indoctrination of progressive thought. Not all ideas “start even in the race.”
What chaos! Happily my three fellow Golden Eagles did not
succumb to the spirit of the university or to the “college bubble.” After a professional career, Favre took a job
as a high school assistant coach.
Buffett, that rocking capitalist, has given millions to needy families. Bennett, though a member of the radio/TV
chattering class, has always chattered good sense, and has been a defender of
social conservatives and other deplorables.
Today’s university
setting can easily make one forget his raising.
Fortunately, many students do withstand academia’s progressive barrage. We should be glad.
Roger Hines
2/6/18
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