[aspasia]

Of course it's possible to say in referring to the history of education. You point out is a more recent, sinister development.

All that aside, I'm hearing an underlying suggestive voice that literature, humanities, and the liberal arts are useless. That illiteracy is OK and nothing wrong with that.

[NorthMountain]

One does not learn to read in college. One learns to read much earlier than that.

I used to see a bumper sticker: "If you can read this, thank a teacher".

Hmmm ... If you say so ...

Then I saw: "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran"

Hmmmmm ... OK.

Thanks, Dad!

[Reily]

As currently constructed and taught they are useless!

Correctly taught they are foundational. However, that won’t happen for a long time. If one has a library card its one’s own laziness that makes them ignorant of literature and humanities. People self-teach themselves IT and other business skills all the time the same can be done with literature and humanities.