I concede, until yesterday, I had not realized that under the Greater Wingnuttian Cultural Imperium, we must all specially cherish the Liberal Arts.
But it is True. Indeed, it is an Eternal Verity. According to Rick Moran, English Departments Rule the World! All hail ART.
Beyond writing skill, there are the timeless ideas and themes in western literature that form the backbone of our civilization. Cultural relativity aside, there is a patrimony to be handed down from generation to generation that defines who we are, where we’ve been, and points the way to where we should be going. You are not going to discover this patrimony in government publications, but in the tangle of the minds of novelists who bring to life with words a time, a place, a circumstance that teaches us more than how to be a good writer or get a job in some government office someday.
Golly.
So, the government ought to beat it into the heads of all the snivelling little drones that Literature exists, and that Litrerature says, basically, Fuck You, Government.
Fair enough, I don't disagree.
Except I'd imagine a lot of hilarious squawking as soon as I started making fun of the word "patrimony."
And also, as Roger points out, it's all obviously comical bullshit anyway.