>After all, someone’s usefulness is by definition how much others are willing to give for something they do, and for philosophers that quantity seems to be $0.

I can only repeat my point so many times, this is exactly the outlook on life I find to be sad and ignorant. Philosophy doesn't poof into non-existence when it isn't supported by taxes, it becomes a playground for the rich and the rich get to decide what schools of thought are worth pursuing.

>If you went to a school where STEM students were forced to take a humanities course but humanities students did not have to take a calculus sequence, then you experienced the thing I described.

I did not view it as forced to take humanities courses, but as an opportunity to take humanities courses. I will also say that, if my memory serves, those humanities students were forced to take certain math courses (Algebra & Statistics). I agree that those same students would benefit greatly from being "forced" to take calculus courses - there are number of interesting philosophical concepts covered in calculus.