By MIKE MAGEE
What is wrong with the field of social health sciences? Consider, for example, the mental health crises affecting teenagers across the country, or the sharp decline in relationships and motherhood among young adult men and women, or the attack on vaccine policy by the wayward Kennedy, or the attempt to dismantle ACA health insurance coverage for millions, or the open cruelty of ICE agents toward citizens and legal aliens, or the callous attitude toward military and civilian casualties in the Middle East by the President and the “Secretary of War”… and I could continue.
How should our nation begin to address these grievances? With our grandchildren in higher education or rapidly approaching it, I have been making related arguments (as I see it) about the value and importance of a liberal arts education. Strangely, Trump, in his attacks on law and democracy, has instigated a resurgence of interest in history, philosophy, religion, political science, literature and the arts, even in this age of fantastical AI exuberance.
My own alma mater has remained steadfast in its vision. While they are standing your own website, “The liberal arts education at Le Moyne is rooted in the Jesuit tradition, which emphasizes the education of the whole person and the search for meaning and value as integral parts of an intellectual life. This commitment to a liberal arts education enables students to develop a broad range of skills and knowledge, fostering 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, including knowledge in multiple disciplines and the confidence to participate in intellectual activities as members of a global community.
In simpler terms, LeMoyne’s theory front page headlines “We strive to greatness always through the eyes of goodness.“I thought about this last week while watching James Talarico’s speech. accepting his nomination in the Democratic primary for the Senate in Texas. Explaining his compelling victory numbers in part as a result of his ability to attract large turnout from Democrats, independents and Republicans, he issued what will undoubtedly be his rallying cry: ““The people of this state have given this country a little hope, and a little hope is a dangerous thing.”
Who is in danger? Talarico tagged not just billionaires, but especially Christian nationalists, who, he says, “divide us by party, race, gender, religion so we don’t realize they are defunding our schools, destroying our health care, and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends. It’s the oldest strategy in the world: divide and conquer. But we will not be conquered.”
This week, CUNY political scientist, Pedro Beinart, featured a notable op-ed in the New York Times, leaning heavily on the liberal arts to make a compelling case against empire building and King Trump. By opposing national sovereignty and international law conventions, it highlights the The president’s source of guidance – “My own morals. My own mind. He‘“It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
Beinart bolsters his case against Trump by delving into our own history, political science, literature, and religion. Included in the trip are President William McKinley (intention to build a Caribbean empire), and his opponent, William Jennings Bryan who states that McKinley’s action “is not a step forward toward a broader destiny; it is a step backward toward the narrow views of kings and emperors.” John Quincy Adams appears in 1821 stating that such deliberate aggressions would undermine “the fundamental maxims of American policy (and) insensibly change (democratic practice) from liberty to force.”
Others also feature, including Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, WEB Du Bois, and John Kenneth Galbraith. Considering Beinart’s impressive essay and Talarico’s acceptance speech, side by side in just 24 hours, reminds 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 greatness must flow from us goodness. The core of a well-educated electorate is knowledge, wisdom and values. In its absence, we are left with ignorance, greed and hatred.
Mike Magee MD is a medical historian and regular contributor to THCB. He is the author of CODE BLUE: Inside America’s medical industrial complex. (Greet/2020)
