Shorris I

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>Kelley Walker wrote:
>
>>these were ordinary folks: a butcher, a machine shop worker, a 
>>'welfare mom', a minister, secretary, an engineer, etc.
>
>Apologies for the length of this, but I loved this article when I 
>first read it; it literally brought a tear to my eye.
>
>Doug
>
>----
>
>Harper's - September 1997
>
>On the Uses of a Liberal Education
>As a weapon in the hands of the restless poor.
>
>Earl Shorris
<snip>
>"You've been cheated," I said. "Rich people learn the humanities; 
>you didn't. The humanities are a foundation for getting along in the 
>world, for thinking, for learning to reflect on the world instead of 
>just reacting to whatever force is turned against you. I think the 
>humanities are one of the ways to become political, and I don't mean 
>political in the sense of voting in an election but in the broad 
>sense." I told them Thucydides' definition of politics.
<snip>
>It cost about $2,000 for a student to attend the Clemente Course. 
>Compared with unemployment, welfare, or prison, the humanities are a 
>bargain. But coming into possession of the faculty of reflection and 
>the skills of politics leads to a choice for the poor -- and 
>whatever they choose, they will be dangerous: they may use politics 
>to get along in a society based on the game, to escape from the 
>surround of force into a gentler life, to behave as citizens, and 
>nothing more; or they may choose to oppose the game itself. No one 
>can predict the effect of politics, although we all would like to 
>think that wisdom goes our way. That is why the poor are so often 
>mobilized and so rarely politicized. The possibility that they will 
>adopt a moral view other than that of their mentors can never be 
>discounted. And who wants to run that risk?

I agree with Shorris that the poor have been cheated out of the 
humanities, thus being robbed of a chance to become political in the 
fullest sense of the word.  The rich want to maintain their class 
power, and that is why they push vocational tracks upon the working 
class.

Yoshie