Cauliflower: Cabbage with a College Education
Camille Paglia, author, educator, and social critic, states in her article “Revalorizing the Trades” that society regards labor-intensive jobs such as welding, carpentry, and construction less highly than office jobs. Paglia states that “the pressuring of middle-class young people into office bound, paper-pushing jobs is cruelly shortsighted. I argue that her article is shortsighted. Paglia only accounts for one part of a very large and diverse American culture. The Southern subculture of the United States is one of the most distinct and encompasses the states of the Confederacy plus others. Mark Twain said, “Don’t let education interfere with learning.” Twain represents the Southern culture that is still alive and well today.
Southern culture is such a prominent way of life that people from all over the world devote their lives to its study. Examples of such academic interest include the University of Mississippi, home to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture which attempts to define every aspect of this unique and distinct geographical culture, and the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation which is dedicated to preserving the historical past of the South. Thousands of people work to understand and archive the distinct Southern way of life. Southern culture and tradition is not some minor folkway that is easily overlooked and forgotten; it is a major factor in the figuring of the definition of the next decade.
As such a major part of society, the views of the South must be taken into account. Twain stated learning and education are separate ideas which should be examined separately. Part of the Southern way of life is the choice of occupations. Logical and practical thinking are prominent aspects of Southern culture, and as such, labor-related jobs such as farming, welding, carpentry, and electrical work, jobs which have a practical use, are held in the highest esteem.
Camille Paglia’s article, while relevant to urban areas outside of the former Confederate states, has little standing in the South; and as a result must be viewed as incomplete. Paglia states that colleges do little or nothing to teach skills to prepare students or life in labor-related jobs. She is correct; however, vocational schools and apprenticeships do teach these skills and high school agriculture programs introduce these possible career options to students at the 7th and 8th grade level.
Students are taught from grade school that essays must have a foundation based in fact. Paglia’s “Revalorizing the Trades” has no factual basis when society as a whole is considered.
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