Monday, April 19, 2004
(8:41 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Postmodernism: Good?
As a follow up to my previous post, I'd like to say that, all things considered, I prefer our postmodern university setting. For instance, two generations back, both sides of my family were dirt-poor and had about a thousand kids each. If not for the democratization of the university (along with the arguable "watering-down" -- stuff like PowerPoint, etc.), I likely would never have gotten a university education at all. Even if my life ends up looking formally like Jude the Obscure, in terms of never getting that elite university position and facing horrible tragedy in my dealings with women, I have had the distinct privilege, for most of my life, of being involved in an engaging intellectual community. I have elitist instincts, but when I really think about it, I realize that if we reinstated elitism, I would never have had a shot at getting in on it.
Thankfully, those kinds of windows will remain open in our country, since Kerry is inevitable and Bush cannot possibly win a second term, and since people will come to understand, before it's too late, that the Republicans want to privatize our nation's school system.
