A carpenter knows the difference between shoddy work and fine craftsmanship. The same is true for the practitioners of the other arts. An educated man possesses the ability to evaluate the quality of men and institutions. Liberal education proceeds implicitly from the belief that men are not equal in principle. Men differ not only in knowledge but also in their potential to acquire it.
Liberal education is elitist.
It makes a claim, a moral claim, that some men are superior to others. But our American way of life is predicated on the belief that all human beings are fundamentally equal. Liberal education is in conflict with the founding principle of our government and society. Liberal education, if it is to be tolerated, must make no claims as to the superiority of those who possess it. It must, in the public view, be indistinguishable from training.