On virtuous choices

Margaret Wente's latest isn't that far off of my criticism of most of her reactionary pablum. And the fact-checking of her column is entirely deserved. But she does manage to highlight an important choice, even if she rhetorically assumes exactly the wrong outcome.

In fact, I'd think there's indeed a problem if large numbers of well-educated people can't find work related to their fields of expertise. And that goes doubly if students have to take out massive student loans to get an education that's setting them up for little opportunity.

Where Wente goes astray, though, is in assuming that the solution is for more people to avoid higher learning and instead train only for the jobs that best suit the interests of those with the most money to pay. And Wente's own choice of words signals how glaringly bizarre her position is: since when is "virtue" a vice to be mocked, rather than something that should be generally pursued (even if different political actors may disagree on its exact form)?

Fortunately, the gap between the projects people value most and those that are currently being funded can be bridged at least as easily by changing the funding structure as by forcing a change in values on people willing to dedicate years of training to making a better world. And in pointing out the gap between our theoretical ability to fund worthwhile social ends and the minimal amount of resources actually dedicated to them after decades of anti-tax spin, the Occupy movement is in fact right on target in highlighting a solution.

Of course, it's far beyond Wente to recognize that choice given her self-appointed role as a protector of those who already enjoy a disproportionate share of our society's wealth. But let's not pass up an opportunity to discuss the real choice - and note that the Occupy movement is exactly on track in noting that a focus on further rewarding the top end of the income and wealth scale has both increased the cost of an education, and limited the availability of careers which advance social ends rather than private profits. And it's only by making use of the tools available to us as activists and voters that we can change that state of affairs.