This entire post seems to be predicated on an invalid premise: Math is hard and liberal arts is easy. There are certainly some liberal arts majors that are easy blowoff majors. But there are also plenty of very challenging liberal arts majors.
Rather than make this a simplistic question of "Should we challenge our kids or not?", we should be asking the question "What should we challenge our kids with?". And it's not clear to me that every liberal arts major needs a good algebra foundation. So why not replace it with something equally challenging that will be more useful to the students?
> Rather than make this a simplistic question of "Should we challenge our kids or not?", we should be asking the question "What should we challenge our kids with?". And it's not clear to me that every liberal arts major needs a good algebra foundation.
It doesn't have to be algebra specifically, though algebra is probably the most immediately applicable and simplest set of mathematical concepts to teach. It's a more general sense, that those who are comfortable with mathematical concepts are better at constructing abstract ideas that are rigorous and consistent, which is generally a positive virtue in liberal arts. For instance, this is what distinguishes the logic-driven analytic school of philosophy from the hand wavy and largely meaningless wasteland of continental philosophy whence postmodernism was born.
Liberal arts is indeed challenging--if you do it right. Not doing it right is the problem though, and it arises from from letting bullshitters pass themselves off as people making an honest attempt. This goes all the way from the top down in some fields, but less so in others.
Rather than make this a simplistic question of "Should we challenge our kids or not?", we should be asking the question "What should we challenge our kids with?". And it's not clear to me that every liberal arts major needs a good algebra foundation. So why not replace it with something equally challenging that will be more useful to the students?