suggests reading and understanding less, having a less clear view of history and devaluing important art, calls me a boomer.

Yes it is. The cultural and literary traditions of the Greeks has had a profound impact on European and American society, and if you can’t understand their literature and how they thought and wrote and what stories were important to them you cannot understand them and their impact on us. Imnot saying everyone needs to read all of the Iliad and the odyssey in the original Greek, but at least reading part of it and knowing the story is fundamental to seeing the rich literary tradition that has lead to modern works, and understanding the culture that created these works that also have a massive impact on us. You don’t have to like them but you do have to know about them. Same with Shakespeare and the Bible. If you think Jesus and the church is all bs to steal your money whatever, but you cannot just ignore that the Bible has had a massive impact on the philosophy and behaviors of people in Europe, the Americas, and parts of Africa and Asia. Having some knowledge of Homer, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Thoreau, and Hemingway will allow you to see how the world and cultures have changed, and will open up your reading horizons and ability to think and consider multiple perspectives. What is important moving forward is to make sure more women, more people of color, more queer people, and more leftist get included in the so-called literary canon of the west, or a global literary canon which should be developed.