Is Latin useful?

First, my dear Watson, we must decide what useful means. What is useful? Too often a "useful" field of study means one that a high school advisor thinks will lead to a high-paying job, usually involving computers or stocks. By that standard, Latin is not useful. Not even the great Erasmus was rich in a pecuniary sense; he did know quite a lot of adagia, though, which is another kind of wealth. Fortunes are always changing, but a head full of knowledge can't be taken from you, unlike a house or other material possessions. Literature will always comfort you in difficult times, whereas the rich people I know tend to be worse off because their wealth creates more problems and they struggle to deal with even minor issues because they become used to paying their way out of difficulties. Wealth isolates, isolation makes people weird and sad. Material wealth, power, and the pursuit of them frightens me.  I guess philosophers - and the bible, maybe? and, like, The Lord of the Rings - were right! Being rich or powerful is not cool or a path to human flourishing. While sort of useful in a practical sense, I feel like the bad side of wealth kind of outweigh the good part.

A good life, if you ask me, does not involve the pursuit of what is useful in a financial sense. The point of human existence is not to collect money like a squirrel collecting nuts or to be powerful. These things make you weird and lonely, like Gollum. While I understand the impulse - I do not want to be financially dependent on a person I cannot trust because that often ends badly, and that feeling can spiral into obsession if you are scared enough - I don't think it is a good idea. A useful field of study isn't the one that leads to wealth or power, which often comes at the price of other human beings, but one that leads to flourishing. To live well, humans needs enough material resources to survive, yes, but also love, friendships, community, meaning. That meaning can come from a serious study of literature, contemplated with a circle of dear friends. Meaning doesn't come from working for a tech company, in one of those shiny, well-paid jobs American children are told that they should aspire to. Helping others, learning for the sake of becoming a better human being, and being a part of something larger than yourself is human, not pursuing wealth. That is more useful, if by useful we mean "of use or helpful for achieving a goal of living well."

Latin is very useful for that. Also, I understand that in the United States a degree is an expensive thing so people seek degrees that they know will lead to jobs. I don't know if I can suggest a Classics degree in that context, I'm sorry to say, unless one has scholarships or other ways to avoid loans (really, can one suggest any degree that will lead to debt, even in one of those subjects that allegedly leads to wealth?). Yet you can study Latin in your free time. You can take courses online (many private courses, including my own, are much cheaper than anything you'd find in an American-style university, by the way). You can even teach yourself, using books and resources found online. Latin is useful and worth learning.