Why Not the Humanities

Nussbaum, Martha C.. Not for Profit : Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press, 2010. p 7. Copyright © 2010. Princeton University Press. All rights reserved. 

Martha starts off talking about how the world's education systems are moving to drop art and history since they are useless for the profit driven economy.  Everyone is focused on the science and technical education and nothing else.  I'm reminded of the quote from American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) who said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  Thus getting rid of the history classes will make it easy for the power that be, no one needs to be creative, but only keep doing the "same-old same-old."

In a democracy that is perfect for the elite who want more war mongering, more greed and more sickness and disparity to promote the first two.  Why else would they promote the machine education to create more mechanical sheeple who engage in production and vegetation.  How appropriate to see Martha go on to issues of the soul, where people are programed to see objects and means to their ends and not people any more.  This goes along with the latin phrase: divide et impera: "Divide and conquer" (from Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great)


First it was the development of "divorce" to destroy the nuclear family.  No family then, there is no stability or social structure at all.  How can a community develop without families?  And if there is no sound community then the "Holy Box of Oz" can insure the little sheeple do what they are told to do, just vegetate in front of the holy box:

(((time to 630 is perfect on this video)))
Not my cup of tea...  Martha states this clearly:

"These abilities are associated with the humanities and the arts: the ability to think critically; the ability to transcend local loyalties and to approach world problems as a 'citizen of the world;' and, finally, the ability to imagine sympathetically the predicament of another person"

She goes on to discuss how democracy can not survive without full citizens.  This is really so true.  For decades the US has survived, but it's not a democracy.  People still believe it is, but it really isn't.  Votes are collected and counted, but also separated and burned.  Now it's done with technology, while when the counties in Florida first started it was standard procedure to have a dumpster burn on election night.  That has happened for generations here, and everyone in the system knew it, and laughed about it.  "Dam Yankee's can't get elected here."  Course the Bush Gore fiasco made it obvious to everyone across the world, but still nothing was done about it.  SO what can you do?  Go to court?  But all the judges are appointed or elected too, do you think they will allow anyone to rock the boat they are in?

Not likely. But again Martha in this article does make the clear statement that "cultivated capacities for critical thinking and reflection are crucial in keeping democracies alive and wide awake" which is precisely my point about sheeple - - lost people following each other around, not very conscious, no idea where they are going, but content and happy to just be sheep vegetating in front of the boob tube!