1. If by "Humanities," we mean simply "non-STEM curriculum," then of course they will be of little help in addressing the social and civic crisis we are in right now, BUT

2. If by "Humanities," we mean an intellectual discourse that foregrounds character development, resists utilitarian coopting, and engages in rigorous self-critique, THEN

3. That kind of educational endeavor would, I think, contribute substantially (but not be a panacea) to our efforts to dig ourselves out of this.

4. Here we're not talking simply about mastery of content, but pedagogies that are built on critical thinking, information literacy as well as textual literacy, explicit foregrounding of ethical issues across disciplines.

5. This can be done, but only if we break the stranglehold big business has on our K-12 system (via standardized testing) which views students primarily as future employees or technocrats.

6. And remove the role of partisan boards in selecting textbooks and other teaching materials.

7. And, in higher ed, work to push back against the neocapitalist push for efficiency and measurable results that drives accreditation and funding. END. Thanks for reading this far. No, to watch some football and forget where I live.