Education

Global warming is the most important issue affecting us bar none. It will lead to mass drought and destruction, etc. But I would have to say, as a prof, that the most pressing issue for me is education.

Why? I think it's telling that our current president was elected by a majority of the uneducated (non-college-educated) people of the US. He is a climate denier, a compulsive liar, a racist, sexist (and confessed sexual assaulter), and he made a lot of his money dishonestly (there's more, but I'll leave it at that). Despite all this, many people voted for him (even if not a majority). I think this is b/c many people aren't critical thinkers, one of the most important skills a person in a free society can have. I teach critical thinking. I think that a lot of our politicians and corporate leaders don't want people to be critical thinkers. Frankly, I think they'd be happy if people were dumb. Why else would they argue for things like for-profit schools which they wouldn't send their own kids to, but have no problem if working class or poor families do? Why would they think that people like you and me don't care if they cut the taxes of the wealthy? Why would they take us out of the Paris Climate agreement unless they thought that the majority of us are not concerned w/ these issues? I think an educated populace is a dangerous populous for a certain segment of society.