I had ChatGPT rewrite it and condense it since it rambled too much...
To move forward, liberals should stop dwelling on why some Americans vote against their perceived interests or reject "our" values. We often come across as out of touch with working-class realities and make ourselves easy targets with jargon and self-righteousness. Economic signs—high inflation, wage gaps, and low presidential approval—signaled the recent Democratic defeat. While our ideals of unity and harmony appeal to us, they don’t win elections in a divided society. We must defend what matters: public schools under threat, a true national celebration of 2026, and policies that genuinely reach working Americans. We’re losing trust and relevance, especially among young men and non-college-educated voters who increasingly feel alienated. Universities need a reset, as confidence in them has plummeted due to soaring costs, elitism, and left-leaning ideology. Our challenge is to make our work accessible beyond the academic world. Universities, like public schools, are vital for social mobility and democracy. We need to convey the broader value of history, science, and the arts in everyday life and address the anxieties of those disconnected from academic culture. Trumpism endangers everything we stand for, but democracy is weakened from within if we fail to reconnect and re-educate. |
The problem with a straw man like this one is that it is so easily refuted. https://catalog.yale.edu/ycps/subjects-of-instruction/classics/ |
The author lost me at paragraph 3 by calling Kamala “brilliant.” When will people admit she is a dud intellectually? Just holding certain jobs does not make one smart. |
I don't understand how most Americans don't go to college. I really don't. This country has so much opportunity if you are someone who values education and strives for a better life. I think of the fact that public schools encourage reading, that may sound trivial but public schools in the Arab world absolutely do not. And libraries are not commonly used. Just by reading a low income or low middle class child can develop skills to have a better understanding of the world. And through scholarships can get into good schools. Again with the Arab world comparison because that is what I know best--do you think a bright low income kid over there can get into a good school? Very very hard.
Americans don't realize how good they have it. And the American culture of contempt toward educated elites is part of the reason someone like Trump was able to win. I remember reading a Vance interview where he said McDonald's should hire young American men through better wages and I just rolled my eyes. Yeah sure, these hordes of young unemployed white men are dying to work at McDonald's if only they could get 15 bucks an hour. No, they want high-paying jobs being a foreman at a factory or something. And they are angry at their lawyer cousin who was smart to get out of Oklahoma or whatever and make a good life for themselves in DC or NY. |
The author loses all credibility when he refers to VP Kamala Harris as a "brilliant black women". Both Yale and the New York Times should be ashamed for publishing this drivel written by one with so little awareness of reality. |
Because they are not getting low paying McDonald's jobs. They are making $100K+/year without college. Also, even a state school will run you $120K for 4 years and most poeple can't afford that, actually most can't afford to not work for 4 years. |
Agreed, it should just be "is brilliant" the other 2 adjectives are not necessary and irresponsible qualifiers. |
Student loans are available. That is not something easily accessible to young people in other parts of the world. If they are making that kind of money without college then why are they so angry? |
Why should they have "a reckoning?" They are a beacon. |
All things being equal we do at least know the author's credentials. You are as anonymous as the rest of us here on DCUM and just as likely a high school dropout or paid troll as you are anything else. It is much easier to dismiss your opinions that it is the opinions of someone who has put in the work to earn a doctorate and appointment at Yale. Talk about "one with so little awareness of reality" smh |
Aren't you the clever one. VP Kamala Harris is not brilliant, although she is a black woman. The VP's handlers knew how weak she was--and is--intellectually so they shielded her from engaging in any real interviews. Kamala Harris' biggest mistake during her brief 107 day campaign was in being dishonest repeatedly. |
Maybe if we found other routes for social mobility and let universities go back to focusing on things like the liberal arts (which is what they were designed for, so what they are good at), things would be better. And go back to teaching more content (history, geography, science) in elementary school. I'm all for removing the degree qualifications for the vast majority of jobs. |
Very aware of the reality that VP Harris and the Democratic Party lost by a near landside in the recent election. The Democrats lost the Presidency, the Senate, and the House. |
Also, he’s a professor at Yale so I kind of doubt this is “sour grapes.” |
They are angry because people like you think they only job they can get is McDonalds and if you look at them your body language shows them you assume they are trash and racist. |