Liberal Education as Counterbalance to Trump's AI – Healthcare Blog
Author: Mike Magee
What is wrong with the field of health social sciences? Consider, for example, the mental health crisis affecting teenagers across the country, or the precipitous decline in relationships and fertility among young adult men and women, or the wayward JFK's attacks on vaccine policy, or the attempts to roll back ACA health insurance coverage for millions, or the utter cruelty of ICE agents against citizens and legal aliens, or the callous attitude of the President and the “Secretary of War” toward soldier and civilian casualties in the Middle East… I could go on.
How should our country begin to address these grievances? As our grandchildren are entering or about to enter higher education, I have been making a relevant case (in my opinion) for the value and importance of a liberal arts education. In his attacks on law and democracy, Trump has a strange way of stimulating interest in history, philosophy, religion, politics, literature and art — even in an era of booming artificial intelligence.
My own alma mater has remained steadfast in its vision. As they state on their website, “Le Moyne's liberal arts education is rooted in the Jesuit tradition and emphasizes education of the whole person and the pursuit of meaning and value as integral parts of intellectual life. This commitment to a liberal arts education enables students to develop a broad range of skills and knowledge that fosters ethical leadership, service, and a commitment to social justice. The college's core curriculum is central to its mission, ensuring that all students receive a well-rounded liberal arts education that includes knowledge in multiple fields. The discipline and confidence to engage in intellectual inquiry as members of a global community.”
Simply put, LeMoyne’s front-page headline read, “We Strive for great always through the eyes Kind.“I thought of this last week as I watched James Talarico's speech accepting the Democratic primary nomination for Senate in Texas. In part as he explained his convincing victory numbers as a result of his ability to attract large numbers of votes from Democrats, independents, and Republicans, he issued what is sure to become his rallying cry: “The people of this state give this country a modicum of hope, and a modicum of hope is a dangerous thing. “
Who is at risk? Talarico not only labeled billionaires, but specifically Christian nationalists, who he said are “dividing us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, so that we don't notice that they are cutting funding for our schools, destroying our health care, and cutting taxes for themselves and their wealthy friends. It's the oldest tactic in the world: divide and conquer. But we will not be conquered.”
This week, CUNY political scientist Peter Beinart published a compelling opinion piece in the New York Times in which he relied heavily on the liberal arts to make a compelling case against empire-building and King Trump. In opposing national sovereignty and international law conventions, he highlighted the president's source of guidance – “My own morals. My own thoughts. it'It's the only thing that stops me. “
Beinart backs up his case against Trump by digging deep into our own history, politics, literature, and religion. Involved in the journey were President William McKinley (intended to build a Caribbean empire) and his rival William Jennings Bryan, who claimed that McKinley's action was “not a step toward a wider destiny; but a step backward toward the narrow views of kings and emperors.” John Quincy Adams noted in 1821 that such purposeful aggression would undermine “the fundamental maxims of American policy (and) insensibly pass from liberty to force (the practice of democracy).”
Others also came forward, including Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Webb DuBois, and John Kenneth Galbraith. Beinart's impressive essay and Talarico's acceptance speech delivered in just 24 hours, remind us all that the soul of our democracy requires health, unity and the ability to awaken “our better angels.”
To paraphrase LeMoyne’s motto, our great must be from our Kind. At the core of an educated electorate are knowledge, wisdom and values. Without it we are trapped in ignorance, greed and hatred.
Mike Magee, MD, is a medical historian and regular contributor to THCB. He is the author of “Code Blue: Inside the American Medical-Industrial Complex.” (Grove/2020)
