Literary Rant

Why do we put some literature above others? Why is it that we feel the need to say that this or that author is brilliant and deserves our praise? What criteria do we have that determines what our children will study in English classes in years to come? Have you ever stopped and asked yourself these questions or do you just accept that someone out there is doing the choosing for you?
The problem is that there is no answer to these questions. Of course you are saying to yourself that there is an answer to each of my questions, but are you sure about that? If you look closely into the trends of what is taught in English class you will find a few disturbing trends. One constant is the great Shakespeare, and so leads us to the mindset that whatever he has got it must be good. But if you delve deeper into this assumption the wholes start cropping up. First of all you think that popular opinion must be what makes him so great. But even accounting for changes in theater, his works are not even tenth on the most watched or performed of his or any other time. The next assumption is that his works must have that elusive something that other writers cannot touch. Yet Shakespeare himself often wrote of others he admired and thought that his works paled in comparison.
Why then is he so popular and not these others?
I believe that it is because of one teacher. In 1912 Horace Sampson submitted a list of works to the United States Board of Education that he felt were of great literary worth. This list was accepted and remained entirely unchanged for 20 years in the public school system. Since then there have been a few changes and additions to this list of literary cannon (mostly accepting female authors but not dropping men). Even in the list of new authors to be added to cannon we see the same poor choices.
For example we have all heard of "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller, but have you heard of "Long Day's Journey into Night" by Eugene O'Neill? It is the same story only O'Neill wrote his play first, Miller copied it right down to the characters and some of the dialogue. The reason for this consistent error in judgment is that the ones in charge of what goes or stays grew up with this list of greats and has not wanted to believe that they could be wrong.
How then are we to rectify this problem and choose the best? Don't ask me, it is too late for me, I have already been brainwashed. But what about the next generation, will we do something for them?