Getting back to basics in budget crisis

Fresno Bee

Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009

http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/valley_voices/v-print/story/1610422.html

By Andrew Fiala

The gloom of budget cuts is overshadowing the usual back-to-school excitement on campus this year. Students are being hit by fee increases and reduced course offerings. Faculty are taking a pay cut, while dealing with larger classes.

There is a lot to complain about this fall. But this is also an opportunity to reflect on our fundamental values.

The purpose of education is to produce wise human beings and good citizens. Teachers are called to their profession because we value wisdom, justice and truth. And the truth is that wisdom and goodness are not necessarily connected to wealth.

Indeed, our tradition condemns extravagance and greed, while praising simplicity and virtue. Whether we trace these ideas back to Greek or Christian sources, the message is the same: It is better to live a modest life and avoid the distracting temptations of external goods.

Since Socrates, educators have worried that money corrupts the system of education. Socrates had to continually defend himself against the charge that he was a "Sophist" -- one who was paid to make bad arguments look good.

The key to a good life for the Greeks was one that focused on modesty and self-control. And greed tends to undermine both.

Christianity is even more suspicious of the corrupting power of money. For Christians, the pursuit of wealth can become a sort of idolatry. Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it was for a rich man to get into heaven. And Paul said that the love of money is the root of all evil.

The point of the great monotheistic traditions is not to amass wealth -- but to develop virtue and to love God.

Some money is necessary for a minimally decent life. Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us that "poverty demoralizes." But excessive concern with money is often conjoined with hedonism and the pursuit of power. Emerson also said that "money often costs too much, and power and pleasure are not cheap."

The budget mess provides a teaching moment, that returns us to the radical, counter-cultural values at the heart of our tradition. As our students study Plato, Shakespeare and Galileo this semester, they learn to love wisdom for its own sake.

And in the classroom and laboratory, they learn how to do things that have value regardless of monetary compensation. A free mind and the ability to learn new things are the priceless gifts provided by a good education.

No one becomes a teacher because they want to get rich. The life of the mind is a transcendent value. There is joy in discovery and in sharing ideas with our students. And we thrive upon the community spirit and intellectual stimulation that develops in the classroom or laboratory.

It is easy for us to forget this, however, as fees go up and paychecks shrink. Students have to find a way to pay for their education. And professors still have to pay our bills, despite the 10% pay cut.

Some students will have to drop out to make ends meet. And some talented teachers may end up leaving academia in order to put bread on the table. This will be a hard year for all of us.

It has always been difficult to convince our students that there is more to life than money and that there is more to a college degree than increased earning potential. Popular culture celebrates wealth and conspicuous consumption.

But this overemphasis on external goods has contributed to the overspending that caused the current crisis. Now is a chance to remind our students and ourselves of a deeper and more sustainable model of living well -- one that focuses on the joyful solitude of private study rather than on the din of the casino, one that focuses on genuine human community rather than on interest rates and stock prices.

The opportunity to reiterate these more fundamental values is the silver lining in the budget cloud.