Universities educate [students] to be members of a "docile, most skilled, working class."

..according to Marilynne Robinson speaking at Stanford last week. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/november/robinson-humanities-lecture-110315.html Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson argued that if the American higher education system continues to shift priorities towards training instead of educating, students will be ill-equipped to participate as citizens of a democratic society. -- The original rationale behind an American liberal arts education – to play a vital role in democratizing privilege – "is under attack, or is being forgotten," Robinson said. Now, universities by and large do not attempt to "prepare people for citizenship and democracy." Instead, they educate them to be members of a "docile, most skilled, working class." -- Robinson attributes the current lack of support for seemingly non-utilitarian education to broad changes in political and economic ideals, a shift best characterized by the replacement of "the citizen" with "the taxpayer." "While the citizen can entertain aspirations for the society as a whole and take pride in its achievements, the taxpayer, as presently imagined, simply does not want to pay taxes," -- As Robinson put it, "We have persuaded ourselves that the role of the middle ranks of our population is to be of use to the economy, more precisely to the future economy – of which we know nothing for certain." It's an interesting idea, that (many? all? some?) universities have shifted away from educating leaders, thinkers, creators of society, towards (highly skilled) workers in society. I can see that point.