In the 2018 book Why Liberalism Failed, Patrick J. Deneen argues that today's university education has lost its connection with the liberal arts tradition that gave meaning to students' educational experience. Rather than transmitting culture and teaching lessons in self-governance, universities focus on professional training in STEM, economics, and business. Students often feel pushed into fields that are viewed as having good job prospects. He writes:
"The rising generation is indoctrinated to embrace an economic and political system they distinctly fear, filling them with cynicism toward their future and their participation in maintaining an order they cannot avoid but which they neither believe in nor trust" (11).
Do you think this is an accurate description of the current college-age generation? Evaluate Deneen's comments using your own experience as a guide.