tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8242926316765633205.post5553582142637539206..comments2024-03-17T04:14:44.845-05:00Comments on Frugal Scholar: Frugality and Education as Necessary Evils: Milton and MascaraFrugal Scholarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12696815672500452503noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8242926316765633205.post-26452050394552973362009-12-12T10:31:40.536-06:002009-12-12T10:31:40.536-06:00One reason education is so devalued in America as ...One reason education is so devalued in America as to be considered a "necessary evil" is that what we call education isn't: it's voc-ed. Or, more recently, one variety or another of baroque fraud.<br /><br />We also have the confusion, in the minds of the right-wingers who have so long dominated the political and cultural scene, between "liberal arts" and "liberalism." Being themselves products of an educational system that is somewhat wanting, these folks don't know what "liberal" means in the term "liberal arts," and so assume a broad education is part of the vast left-wing conspiracy. Hence liberal education is as deeply hated as liberalism of the political and cultural varieties.<br /><br />My favorite passage in Milton is from <i>Areopagitica</i>: "I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat."Funny about Moneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13188173788063351801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8242926316765633205.post-8939798412397346432009-12-10T16:19:54.314-06:002009-12-10T16:19:54.314-06:00@Revanche--Very thoughtful. I am not too far remov...@Revanche--Very thoughtful. I am not too far removed from immigrants (first generation on one side; second on the other). Perhaps that is why I retain such reverence for education!<br /><br />@Duchesse--I know. You're right. But I'm right too.Frugal Scholarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12696815672500452503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8242926316765633205.post-64964603783125279902009-12-10T12:34:06.538-06:002009-12-10T12:34:06.538-06:00As I said in part one, the phrase "necessary ...As I said in part one, the phrase "necessary evil" does not mean evil in a moral sense, but more broadly, something which has undesirable qualities BUT is preferable to its absence.<br /><br />Some people don't enjoy learning, or find it difficult. The reasons may be temperamental, physical or the result of negative early experiences. Sometimes people are in the educational system so long they just get sick of the grind. I've always found time spent within the educational system okay-to- pleasant, more fun than 80% of the jobs I've had, but not everyone thinks so.Duchessehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09986153653120526776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8242926316765633205.post-74597913418584004242009-12-09T23:20:17.054-06:002009-12-09T23:20:17.054-06:00Can I be a little bit cynical here? The major rea...Can I be a little bit cynical here? The major reason education is cast as an "evil" is because we're frankly ...spoiled and lazy. Once, the limiting factor of education was money: pursuing education was a luxury and more of those scholars valued it. Since the advent of public education, it's no longer a scarce or appreciated commodity, it's become despised and dismissed because we take it for granted. The association thereafter is then that education, in a general manner, is less than prized by the general population. <br /><br />[I come at this from a very different background, knowing that just in my parents' generation one had very few choices in life and pursuing education was a luxury reserved for the wealthy or the very high-scoring, intelligent and lucky of the masses. As a male, your other "choice" was to become a soldier. Gives me a whole new appreciation for the kinds of educational opportunities my generation has.]Revanchehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07293868300535734672noreply@blogger.com