Marlene's Perspective

Chapter: Subject to Failure

Everything is this country is marred with fiscal issues. We are brainwashed with the amount of stuff we have and the more we want it. We’re used to buying and owning, continually raising the bar.

Is it me or does money seem to thwart dreams and ambitions, and make people full of potential settle for the stability of a bi-weekly paycheck? Selling their time to businesses and corporations instead developing their minds, abilities and talents. NewsWeek did a recent study on the top 13 most useless majors and of course Fine Arts was listed as number one. Big Surprise. They based it off of unemployment rates, earnings and projected growth within the next decade. Realistically, in this day and age those things are “needed” in order to “succeed”. That’s where the mind boggling happens for me. How is it we’ve evolved into a nation that relies on it’s monetary system to determine stature and success? It isn’t even the nation’s monetary system, it’s the Federal Reserve’s, (but that’s another issue.. I won’t go all political science-y on you.)

Now let’s return to the “useless majors”. Art critic Blake Gopnik responded to the list with

After all, who’s more important today, Rembrandt or the people who bought his art? Monet or the people who bought his? Van Gogh or the rich idiots who FAILED to buy what he made? Useless is as useless does, I say, and it seems pretty clear to me that, across history, many of the people who made the biggest difference had training in the most useless professions. (Aristotle, anyone?) 

I think it’s safe to say most of us can agree with that comment. Or at least I’d hope so. If we didn’t have people studying philosophy, where would these new thoughts and theories come from, and what about? Drama and theatre arts or film, video and photographic arts? Really? What movies would we be watching or what shows would make us laugh? (I understand you don’t need to major in these areas, but let’s think of it as simply it being your passion.) And finally the one that really hit home, fine arts. Anyone who decides to major in art is obviously taking a risk. Personally, every time I tell someone what I study at school I get the casual fake smile that really says “God be with you”. To get that all the time is kind of discouraging, but then to read it’s the #1 most useless major was just offensive. 

(It was discouraging too, I was depressed for about 2-3 days, but I’m over it.) What Gopnik says is true, if we don’t have people studying all these different fields, we’ll lose the diversity this nation is known for and we’ll all be a bunch of mindless drones running through the system. I don’t understand how people don’t see it, but the world will MOST DEFINITELY not be a better place when people have more money. We all fall into that trap. “If only I had more money, then I could do…” yada yada yada. Truth is, we need to want less and value what’s important more. 

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