My Bach degree was in history, and I often wrote off the importance of the “critical thinking” skills we learned in that program.

Boy was I wrong, I know too many people who need nothing more than an unsourced headline to fully convince them of something ludacris.

Arts education (which I mean to encompass not just visual art but also literature, plays, music, etc) is important because without it you get idiots with no media literacy. An arts degree, specifically, may not be important or beneficial for the average person, but classes in which one must think critically about the creator, the creator's intent, the context in which the art was created, and the reception of the art are how you teach people to be well-rounded individuals who don't just vomit out the first half-baked thought their curdled brain cobbled together from propaganda.