Teaching is a Nobel Profession

 

In mid-August MIT professor and Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Daron Acemoglu sat down with Harvard professor Michael Sandel at the Brattle Theater to discuss the ideas presented in his latest book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy: Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity. My wife and I arrived just in time to find two corner seats of a triplet remaining in the corner of the balcony. After receiving the courtesy of a young woman who occupied the aisle seat and had to rise to allow us to sit, we settled in for the Q&A format of host and author, who knew each other’s work quite well. 

 

As one might expect, Acemoglu was knowledgeable and insightful on his topic and a range of other topics historical, political, technological, social, and, of course, economic. He made sure to define his terms before unwinding the interdisciplinarily-tangled intellectual ball of yarn that was his thesis. Liberal democracy is not about domestic politics although these do have an impact on the formation and imposition of it; liberal democracy is a political philosophy that informs governance and incorporates civil liberties, rule of law, democratic governance, free elections, etc. Acemoglu asserts that our post-industrial society has put a dent in the maintenance of liberal democracy and the sharing of prosperity that should support it and that we need to address this or autocracy may further step into the void.

 

Did he mention role of AI and automation in the mix here? Yes, and he sees it having a modest impact on GDP and a definite impact on education and work.

 

Throughout the conversation, the young woman who had graciously “ushered” us into our seats, ardently dashed Acemoglu’s poignant thoughts into her jotter, which she cradled in her lap on top of her copy of his signed book. Her actions weren’t distracting, rather I admired her keenness to gather in all she could from this discussion; it brought me back to two earlier times in my life: when I wasn’t at the top of my game as a learner and when I was. I pushed aside the first X and moved to the second, enjoying the glass half full.

 

Acemoglu responded to probing questions from Sandel, and from the Nobelist’s well-studied perspective came the assertion that the community needs to be empowered to build consensus and prosperity needs to be shared (his premise: that the working class—the labor market—has been cut out of prosperity). Acemoglu argues that the solution is to engage a “working-class liberalism” that addresses on the needs of the non-college-educated working class.

 

This had my wheels spinning (grinding?). I teach at a wonderful college prep school that produces college-ready, then college-educated students, and he suggests that college-educated elites have not allowed for shared prosperity with the labor. It’s hard to disagree with this premise knowing that wages were stagnant from the 1970s until just recently in the 2020s, but the vast majority of college-educated students aren’t the “elites”; they are labor (and more frequently today, they are becoming entrepreneurs. But I digress.). College-educated workers are statistically higher lifetime earners (see Pew Research: https://www.pewresearch.org/chart/st_26-03-02_america250_earnings_education/) and more informed, healthier, citizens and participants in civil society. I appreciate a college-educated society/economy but seek an egalitarian one as well. The excellent education offered can help us get there, I believe.

 

Acemoglu took questions from the audience at the end. In a cosmic nod to globalism and a reminder that this book talk was indeed in Harvard Square, the questions came from those who identified themselves as Columbian, Iranian, and Mexican. The first was a young man who sat in front of me and the latter was the young woman who sat next to me. She also identified herself as a high school teacher in Mexico City, and her question was about best practice, essentially, “What are the skills we should be teaching our students so that they can be successful in the future, especially with the development of AI?” 

 

The MIT professor of economics named two qualities that students should develop: flexibility and social skills. The former because he recognized the speed at which the work landscape is changing and will continue to change and the latter because he sees these as absent from the ethos of automatons. Social skills—active listening, effective communication, relationship building, teamwork, et. al.—are what we do in the classroom everyday while engaging with rigorous intellectual discipline-specific and interdisciplinary curriculum and ideas. 

 

That young teacher from Mexico City impressed me with her kindness, intelligence, and dedication to her practice. She provoked my anticipation of the annual return to Brimmer and May School after the summer that brings me back to work with a cohort of teachers who share those same qualities—and even better, to re-engage with a cohort of students who love learning and will investigate ideas like liberal democracy and shared prosperity among the many, many others they encounter this year.