Suppose Three Professors Were Working on A Railroad Track....

This is one of those references I will make with only a little comment. In today's Wall Street Journal, Peter Berkowitz of the Hoover Institution at Stanford wrote about why academics seem to be so out of touch with Main Street. He writes, in part:

"Neither professors of political science nor of history have made a priority of instructing students in the founding principles of American constitutional government. Nor have they taught about the contest between the progressive vision and the conservative vision that has characterized American politics since Woodrow Wilson (then a political scientist at Princeton) helped launch the progressive movement in the late 19th century by arguing that the Constitution had become obsolete and hindered democratic reform.

Then there are the proliferating classes in practical ethics and moral reasoning. These expose students to hypothetical conundrums involving individuals in surreal circumstances suddenly facing life and death decisions.... Such exercises may sharpen students' ability to argue. They do little to teach about self-government."