http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7293992.stm

This article (click the link above) discusses how the educated youth of France are choosing too many "soft majors" and not working enough. What do you think? Is America the same way? Are too many of us choosing impractical career paths and then wondering where are money is? And if so, what should we be studying instead?

I think about this a lot. Susan Sontag said something like "Anyone who doesn't work with their hands is a parasite." What she means is anyone who isn't doing hard labor is living off of others hard labor. The latter group includes artists, critics, theorists, etc. Are our paths justified?

Art is a natural part of humanity and its enrichment of life is, to me, self-evident. If we all adapted a utilitarian perspective, what kind of life would we be constructing?

Who or what "decides" who should be a laborer and who gets a spot in the ivory tower? Money? Influence? Academia? Skill?

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