In Defense of Liberty and Education for All How does a society become socially free and have equal opportunity for all its citizens? According to the conventional democratic American belief, all people should be granted the same educational opportunities so that everyone has the fair chance to succeed in society. However, in William A. Henry’s essay, “In Defense of Elitism,” he argues for the archaic belief that society should limit higher educational opportunities because most people do not have the capability to compete in college. Henry wants to scale back the number of college students in America to an accomplished few. As such, Henry contends that the educational standards will ultimately rise, which will make college more prestigious. Upon inspection though, Henry’s views and beliefs are rendered false because his evidence is exaggerated, distorted and inappropriately compared and contrasted to support his claims. In reality, Henry’s beliefs clash with America’s true intentions for a democratic society, which are depicted in Benjamin R. Barber’s essay, “America Skips School.” The journalist and critic, William A. Henry III, criticizes the egalitarian American view regarding education, which he believes degrades the value and accomplishment of receiving a college degree in an American society. Henry tries to argue this by explaining that there are too many students enrolled in college and that the standards and requirements of courses will as a result decline. The essay argues that obtaining a college education has become too commonplace and that the prestige and honor of higher learning has diminished. Essentially, he thinks the American society has allowed too many unqualified people a chance to earn a degree and he criticizes the public educational system in order to bring back elitism in education. In America, the number of students achieving University education has gr...
