And in between, I have a degree in mathematics. Much of what I studied ended up being useful, but much wasn’t.

Universities were not originally vocational schools — but that didn’t prevent people from finding a vocation from their university courses. Or not.

Regardless, if America now decides, “Universities should only teach things that will directly help you earn money,” it will be tremendously destructive.

It’s only in America where school is so expensive that you have to get some “return” on your “investment”. I studied mathematics because I loved it and it was the only possible choice for me. I had no idea how I would make a living out of it and didn’t care. I also took a lot of other courses in other fields that interested me. It turned out that I became interested in computers, which at the time were so obscure that you couldn’t get a degree in computer programming in my university! (There were a lot of courses, and they were part of electrical engineering!)

I am a much better citizen because of my fine university education, which cost me so little that, together with my tiny scholarship and working as a teaching assistant, I actually made a little money going to school.

That was what a liberal society was like. It was amazing.