The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning

A commentator in The New York Times today said he thought there was no point to the humanities. They are of no purpose, no use and have no measurable value to the world. Perhaps.

My favorite college English professor once told me that, as he saw it, the purpose of a college education was to make you unhappy. (When he said college education, I can only assume he meant an education in the humanities, for he taught at a liberal arts school and was of the type to whom no other education counted.) He thought college should open our eyes to the injustice and ethical problems in the world and make us unsatisfied with the status quo. Education would make us forever fretful, unable to rest because we saw the truth—the world is hard and cold and ugly and we are taxed with the job of working to improve it.

A lot of students didn't care for my favorite professor. He was a little too harsh, too demanding in class. He was even known to laugh out aloud when someone volunteered an answer he found particularly wrong. But I think he was right. The humanities—art, literature, history, philosophy—make us unhappy with our lives. Money and success become dry and tasteless when we understand how they have been used in the past.

But the truth is that sorrow can enrich life. It can teach us to feel more deeply, and even to love with more passion. Seeing the bad for what it is makes the good that much brighter. So when my professor said education makes us unhappy, I think he really meant unsatisfied. Because we know that we can never rest easy when we know the world. The humanities bring that world to us. At their best, they shouldn't lock us in an Ivory Tower. They should unlock our hearts, so we can feel the pain of our neighbors, and understand the love that triumphs over that agony.

My First Caucus

It was standing room only in precinct 315 in West Des Moines. Attending my first caucus had kept me excited all week, and now I was finally there. The noise level slowly climbed from a low hum to a rapid buzz. People filed in, heading to their corners and sporting stickers for Clinton, Obama, Edwards and the rest. From the youthful look of others in the room, it was many peoples’ first caucus. The Obama tables filled up first, then Clinton’s. Soon, the elementary school cafeteria was packed, and crowds of people stood along the walls. These are my neighbors, I thought to myself. Yet I had never seen them before.

Everyone seemed to be smiling, eager to enjoy the process. I smiled too and felt happy that I was part of it. After months of political commercials, phone calls and newspaper articles, I was finally casting my vote. We took a head count the way you do in grade school, with everyone calling out a number. It was a packed house and people strained to look as the numbers were ticked off—254 in the end. Applause broke out when the precinct chairman announced the total from atop a lunch table. He said it was a record.

We then counted the number of supporters for each candidate. There were 106 for Obama, 47 for Clinton, 42 for Edwards, 25 each for Biden and Richardson, three for Dodd and seven undecided. The people whose candidates didn’t make 15 percent of the vote had the chance to switch. I thought there would be organized speeches to try and sway them, but it was chaos as people yelled and waved their arms. I hadn’t seen a group of Iowans that excited since, well, never. Chanting matches broke out between rival factions, with Obama’s supporters yelling O-BA-MA while Clinton’s and Edwards tried to silence them with cheers of their own.

In the end, Obama got two delegates, while Biden, Clinton and Edwards each received one. I’m glad I caucused. I felt good about Iowa, and good about America. Things can’t be all that bad when 254 neighbors can gather in a cafeteria and good-naturedly pick a candidate.

Caucus Fever!

Tomorrow night I will be attending the Iowa Caucuses! After so much build up, I am super excited to see the political wheel in motion. I am stoked to stand up and be counted as supporting a candidate. Having never caucused before, it may be confusing, and I have no idea how fervent the people will be in their defense of their candidates. I hope to provide photos to document my caucus experience, so check back soon!