Contempt for the man in the suit.

And Wall Street. (I don't "love" Wall Street, but I sure as heck know it's stupidly important to the health of not only the U.S. but the world. The only thing that truly matters on the island of Manhattan - besides its opera and ballet companies, its symphony orchestra and various museums, is Wall Street. And maybe its libraries.)

I somewhat enjoy reading comments because it gives me tiny insight of those who have the urge to share their thoughts on a given topic. This time it's about majoring in the humanities (English, philosophy, classics, history etc.).

For those that do not see the worth of a humanities degree the mocking can be hurtful, though as someone who majored in the social sciences and minored in a humanities field I somehow never felt insulted. It did make me seriously ask myself "What can I do with this combination?" And that's a good thing. I'm all for the "life of the mind" but I'm also practical. If you focus your entire university career dedicated to the humanities don't expect people to give you a job; don't blame society for it being, in your mind, a corporate inhumane machine. Welcome to Reality. Your affair with Milton was caught by the papz. Face the music.

What I'm turned off by those in the humanities is their lack of creativity, as ironic as that may sound. Critical analysis, creativity and culture are words often thrown around by the faculty and students of English (and any variety of it -- be it creative writing, comp. lit.), philosophy, history etc. yet they are woefully clueless once they step out of the journalistic, publishing or writing world. All the analyzing and writing and reading couldn't muster a "survival" mentality. They were coddled and said "You are the vanguard of humanity from those in math, science and finance!" Look, I enjoyed most of my college years because I learned how to enjoy learning by being in the library, not from some English professor.  Many of the English majors I knew barely looked at law school as an option after their undergraduate years. Many became elementary teachers. I was talking one English major who told me, after I asked her what her plans were after graduation, "But what can you do with an English degree?" As someone who was met with the hard-hitting question of "What can you do with that?" I sort of felt sorry for her.  If you don't know what you're going to do, even an  inkling, why major in it? But that that's me Asian practical side coming through.

I've formed my general view of majoring in the humanities (and the social sciences), that if I ever have children and they somehow survive till their 17th birthday say "Dad, I want to major in [insert humanities/social science degree]," I won't have much of a negative reaction than to go over the possible careers. The beauty of not majoring in the more practical fields (engineering, finance, accounting, business) is that you can actually enter non-heavy math related careers. If you major in whatever humanities and take the required courses that would make you competitive for a financial analysis job, you might get an interview. A similar thing can be said for medical school (math required). Though the overwhelming students applying to medical have majored in chemistry or biology, you can major, say, in sociology and take the required science & math courses to fulfill whatever curriculum gaps. This is not the usual path a sociology major would take, but it is, indeed, possible and should be broadcasted by all the humanities and social science departments.

There is one thing I am very critical of those who major in the humanities: Their almost outright public hatred for corporate America (I'm biased since my brother and father work/has worked in corporate America). I also have a few friends in corporate America. Take for instance this comment -

How would you know that a Wall Street job is "soul-destroying" when you never indicate you have any familiarity or knowledge of such a job? Maybe your computer science degree helped you attain that six figure income? You see, the hatred and contempt for "suits" is amazingly hilarious. The cubicle worker is hated so much despite cubicle jobs being the biggest source of jobs to put food on the table. This "soul-sucking, wake-up, go-to-work," as often described by walkerst kind is awfully similar to the hatred and contempt shown by childless non-conservatives towards the mustard-stained wearing father of two. Walkerst, after citing those statistics, should be aware that he's the exception amongst his friends. "Drones, corporate raiders" ... This is the picture that comes up in the mind of bitter and angry English majors when they meet "their nemesis" of the corporate worker, so they point and laugh at "the suit," briefcase holding cubicle worker. Now, the pointing goes both ways, but the pointing the humanities majors exercise in, like walkerst case, is drenched with contempt and condescension -- even after he couple that humanities degree with a more practical one, even after he has found monetarily and employment success. You see, walkerst is an academic (admitted by herself), so it's a natural reaction. It seems she has never worked in a real corporate environment; she just assumes. But of course, she'd probably never have the nerve to walk up to my brother and call him a drone. 

And another -

Oh shut it. No one is taking your humanities away from you you fucking indignant pussy. This is the same as the Oscar winners, or any actor or film director, proclaiming that they are glad to be artists (see: Steven Soderbergh) because the world so desperately needs their 'art.'

Because give me your money -

This contempt is the same as professors hating on college sports. This contempt is the same as coastal "elites" hating on middle America. This contempt is the same as "progressives" hating on the so-called knuckle dragging Neanderthals.