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Martha C. Nussbaum, Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010, xv + 158 pp.
Democratic education is under siege and could very well vanish from the American educational system. "Thirsty for national profit, nations, and their systems of educa- tion," writes Martha Nussbaum, "are heedlessly discarding skills that are needed to keep democracies alive" (2). "If this trend continues, nations all over the world will soon be producing generations of useful machines, rather than complete citizens who can think for themselves, criticize tradition, and understand the significance of another person's sufferings and achievements," continues Nussbaum. "The future of the world's democracies hangs in the balance" (2).
Not for Profit presents a passionate case for systems of education that result in "a more inclusive type of citizenship" (7)-rather than ones solely focused on profit- making. For Nussbaum, the humanities and the arts are the place where students acquire the "skills" necessary to keep democracies alive and become complete citi- zens-rather than "useful machines." If we continue to "ask our schools to turn out useful profit-makers rather than thoughtful citizens" (141-42), our world will be- come one comprised of "technically trained people who do not know how to criti- cize authority, useful profit-makers with obtuse imaginations" (142). According to Nussbaum, "greedy obtuseness" and "technically trained docility" "threaten the very life of democracy itself" and "impede the creation of a decent world culture" (142).
From a wide angle, Nussbaum presents a compelling case for the importance of the humanities to the development of democratic culture. Critical thinking and reflection provide citizens with the capacity to see beyond local problems and loyalties and "imagine sympathetically the predicament of another person" (7). Thoughtful imagination enriches our relationships with others and "makes us human" (6). However, the single-minded quest for economic growth and financial profit tends to abandon these democratic values, particularly in times of severe eco- nomic crisis. As a result, democratic education gives way to education for profit in times of financial crisis.
"Distracted by the pursuit of wealth," comments Nussbaum, "we increasingly ask our schools to turn out useful profit-makers rather than thoughtful citizens" (141-42). Economic strains only...