The Modern Language Association (MLA) shows signs of being

. . . in a state of panic over the fact that English degrees are increasingly worthless in today’s job market. If this situation continues, it might actually put them into the uncomfortable position of being unemployed, and perhaps left to languish at some outpost of Occupy Wall Street.

This is likely the result of

. . . decades of deconstructing and denigrating the study of English [which] has inspired students to seek other majors. Describing the downfall of the English department in old school terms, [Professor William Chace] observed that “English has become less and less coherent as a discipline and, worse, has come near exhaustion as a scholarly pursuit.”

Charlotte Allen notes that the MLA has begun making noises prefatory to a push to

. . . extract massive amounts of money from taxpayers for higher education that, coupled with generous loan-forgiveness programs, would make college essentially free, for the students, that is.

It didn’t take us long to get to the bottom line, did it? Other People’s Money. Allen does offer a solution that wouldn’t impact the taxpayers so much:

I have a suggestion that might help: teach some literature. Teach Goethe and Shakespeare – what they actually say – instead of Marxism, sexism, “intersectionality,” “heterotextuality,” or whatever your pet ideological or fashionable obsession might be.

Excellent idea — but dogs always do return to their own vomit.

See Deborah Lambert’s AIA article “MLA Job Security Angst” here.