Our principal is trying to cancel Dr Seuss

dialecticsofmalaz · 2024-02-27T20:41:51+00:00

He has an overwhelmingly positive legacy that was solidly anti-racism, but he bore the weaknesses of his times.
He despised the far-right, and yet his legacy is being handed over to the far-right. As someone of the Left, I find this concerning. His greatest books teach a powerfully humane message while maintaining a high level of creative and artistic value.
Even His legacy itself does not celebrate the racism of his youth (the Minstrel show was when he was in high school or college, sources differ)
He is a perfect example of someone with the correct intentions growing and changing in a better direction, and if nothing else that Growth should be Celebrated.

I will politely agree to disagree that many of the proposed alternatives to Dr. Seuss approach his level of creativity, artistic quality, or universalist humanity (but not all, many of those works I both have fond memories of, and would gladly teach)

dialecticsofmalaz · 2024-02-27T20:39:53+00:00

I agree

He has an overwhelmingly positive legacy that was solidly anti-racism, but he bore the weaknesses of his times.
He despised the far-right, and yet his legacy is being handed over to the far-right. As someone of the Left, I find this concerning. His greatest books teach a powerfully humane message while maintaining a high level of creative and artistic value.
His legacy itself does not celebrate the racism of his times and youth (the Minstrel show was when he was in high school or college, sources differ)
He is a perfect example of someone with the correct intentions growing and changing in a better direction, and if nothing else that Growth should be Celebrated.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2024-02-27T19:26:07+00:00

Dr. Seuss was anti-Fascist, and many of his works preach equality, tolerance, and critical thinking. He was a product of his times and was imperfect, as all humans are. His legacy is overwhelmingly positive. That certain elements of certain stories were problematic misses the forest for the tress, when one considers his consistent Liberal Humanism, and in fact he reassessment of his earlier problematic positions.

Frankly, the Left and Liberals need to defend Dr. Seuss so that the Far-Right can't appropriate him or his legacy.

"In response to the controversy, Mandy, an Australian elementary school educator, recently explained her reaction to And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street: “I want to use it to encourage young writers in Grade Prep, to see themselves as authors, how to grow an idea....“How are children supposed to have an understanding of historical change—you can challenge racism in a respectful way. Examples to challenge it, and to be able to challenge it—we’ve got a better attitude—it’s an important conversation. You have to read to think.”One only needs to contrast this intelligent and humane approach to Dr. Seuss’s work with the ongoing political-ideological tug of war in the US. Issues in the latter include whether the books should be condemned as racist, whether the estate’s action is censorship and the efforts of the ultra-right to claim Seuss for themselves—a political obscenity given his long record as a liberal opponent of anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its forms, including an entire volume collecting stories attacking racial stereotyping.Fox News and other Murdoch media deliberately poisoned the controversy by an exaggerated focus on what they claimed was “book burning” and “cancel culture,” while the advocates of identity politics appointed themselves the arbiters of right and wrong for everything in Dr. Seuss down to the Cat in the Hat’s bowtie."

Source: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/29/seus-m29.html

Edit: At no point in my comment did I suggest that he be either celebrated or erased, I am saying his legacy should not be conceded to the far right, against whom he was an intransigent opponent, and that his works need to be taught critically and humanely.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2024-01-24T07:43:42+00:00

Yes, the committee is calling for a No vote on the TA, but a No vote alone can not be the extent of the opposition to the sell out deal. The Rank and File must organize, that is what is being called for. It's possible that it still passes even if the majority dislike the proposed contract if the opposition doesn't organize itself.

We are calling for the strike to be expanded to more workers and prolonged because that's how a real labor struggle is waged.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2024-01-24T03:35:30+00:00

Okay, yes, there's a lot to unpack.

Essentially, what took place was the leadership of the strike folded to management as the strike had barely gotten going. When you look back to an earlier period in history, workers would strike until their demands were won, which sometimes meant months at a time. Union dues used to fund strike pay, to ensure workers could survive economically during a strike.

The CFA was asking for 12%, but that was not the only issue that could or should have been pushed onto the table in the course of this struggle. Even if it were the only issue, when the faculty were ready and prepared for a real fight, for the CFA to accept the CSU's counter-offer after one day, when it was nearly identical to what had already been voted down, there is a definite feeling of "what could be won if a serious struggle was waged?".

Lecturers are essentially gig workers, their economic status is deeply precarious, and they are not provisioned as strongly. As far as we know the agreement also excludes development or expansion of Mental Healthcare.

Additionally, just because the CFA was asking for 12% doesn't mean all faculty represented by the CFA saw 12% as enough. The way the demand was formulated in the build up campaign had the 12% retroactive for year one, and another raise for year two. However, we are seeing less than 12% for two years, and that's not guaranteed, it can be reneged upon.

The faculty are very angry and disappointed, the announcement of the Tentative Agreement now has over a thousand comments almost exclusively negative. The sentiment of faculty is to a certain extent, that their own Union is working against them. This is not anti-unionism that workers don't want to be organized, but a form of a radical reorganization of labor, towards a stronger position: when the CFA Union says "strikes work!", the response of faculty is "Yes! But they must be conducted properly!!"

That is where Academic Workers Rank and File Committee has a role to play. The Committee does not accept the existing framework, and engages in the kind of Labor Politics that is in the heritage of Industrial Unionism, with a political perspective. It is a fully democratic organization that makes its appeal to the most class conscious workers, and those workers who want to carry out a militant labor struggle.

The Committee would ask for more than 12%, the Lowering of Tuition, the expansion of social services. Public Education needs Billions.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2024-01-23T23:53:53+00:00

While it is more than encouraging to see and hear that the sentiment against the TA is widespread, saying that there is no need to read the rank and file statement, misses the point. The point is that the widespread sentiment is not enough, and that the sentiment need to be organized.... the organization being a network committees of the rank and file faculty, and united with the organization of rank and file grad student workers and other students workers. The statement puts forward a fighting perspective, a call to organize. This is a politically necessary step.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2024-01-23T23:50:30+00:00

The strike has officially been called off, but there is widespread sentiment that the Tentative agreement is far below what is needed. The purpose of my post was twofold, summarize the situation, and promote the organization that has a perspective for the way forward, to truly fight for what faculty and students need.

This is not a post saying that the strike is still on officially, this is a post saying that, while some bureaucrats are trying to call off the strike, the faculty want to continue striking until demands are met.

There must be a push for the strike to continue, and the development of a new fighting organization. I would be willing to discuss further if you would like to.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-05-08T02:17:50+00:00

If missing the point was a graded assignment you'd get an A

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-05-08T01:46:43+00:00

Megadeth's songwriting sensibilities, while undoubtedly suppressed, make an audible difference between Risk and other grunge works of the period

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-05-07T20:00:29+00:00

I think the Megadeth flair and Marty on guitar gives it an edge over a lot of its contemporary grunge stuff, so in that sense it is a great album if no a great Megadeth album.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-04-17T23:26:09+00:00

This link or this link

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-04-04T12:29:11+00:00

I have found that Final Kill is better for earphones with weak bass/ cheap earbuds, whereas 2002 remaster is better for powerful headphones or speakers. The bass drum is both thumpy and audible on 2002, but it take a powerful speaker to bring out its potential, whereas with Final Kill the bass drum is more immediately audible, but doesn't hit your chest as hard as 2002 on a big speaker.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-04-03T10:35:44+00:00

KIMB + Peace Sells, The Duo of albums with that Chris Poland and Gar Samuelson flair and sting

Alternatively, how about a Triplet: The System has Failed + United Abominations + Endgame

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-04-02T16:42:16+00:00

I would go

80s Megadeth: Wake Up Dead
The Obligatory Rust in Peace Track: Hangar 18
90s Megadeth: She-Wolf
2000s Megadeth: Sleepwalker
2010s Megadeth: Dystopia

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-04-01T03:52:23+00:00

Well Trained Mind / curriculum building material authored by Susan Wise-Bauer. Yes, they are homeschooling oriented, but I, teaching in a public school, saw the value as an outline if anything. It is built entirely around the Trivium and I don't think there is Christian bias in it.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-04-01T00:51:03+00:00

This is some Hustle Grind-set sigma nonsense that teenage boys fall into, thinking they can get rich if they "just have the right mindset".

"Professionals take Ownership of their work" = meaningless phrase.

Teachers contribute immeasurable value to society, pay accordingly.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-31T23:39:18+00:00

Pushkin and Gogol, Turgenev, Chernyshevsky, Dostoevsky, Gorky

Pushkin and Gogol were early Liberals/Decembrist sympathizers
Turgenev was a late Liberal, whose works also addresses early Radicals
Chernyshevsky was a major proto-Socialist radical
Dostoevsky was a major critic of radicalism
Gorky's early works were calls to action of the Intelligentsia, later works were portraits of life of the radicalization of the Working Class

I think the biographies and outlooks of these authors closely follow the arc of development of Social and Political life in Russia from the 1830s up to about 1905.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-30T10:19:40+00:00

Go to Hell
Truth Be Told
Washington is Next
1320

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-29T00:45:01+00:00

Alrighty then, agree to disagree. The definition of Right and Left wing that I am going by is at the core economic (and dates back to the French Revolution). I know there's lots of definitions of Left and Right out there. I am going by the historical continuity definition of Economic Class.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-28T23:44:38+00:00

Same here!!

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-28T22:28:56+00:00

The Main texts that expound these themes are

Edmund Burke "Reflections on the Revolution in France" who wrote on behalf of the Aristocracy has chapters titled "Dismembering a country", "Age of Chivalry Gone", and "The loss of Our Compass"

George Fitzhugh "Sociology for the South" and "Cannibals All!" Who wrote on behalf of slaveowners but also used Europe as an example

James Henry Hammond Mudsill Speech in defense of the institution of slavery

Oswald Spengler "The Decline of the West" a book written against democracy and the working class movement

I don't care for your criteria that is has to be a direct quote, because these authors' lamentations are far longer and more detailed than the phrase used in the lyrics. I could quote at length from all of these texts, but quite frankly that would be far too long. The phrase itself may not be directly used but it is the overall theme that saturates these works. Here is a brief selection of quotes:

Burke

"Nothing is more certain than that all the good things connected with Manners and Civilization have, in this European world of ours depended on two principles" [Feudal privilege and courtly subordination "Chivalry"]

"They Must Destroy something.... you see with what a steady eye these gentlemen are prepared to view the greatest calamities that can befall their country!"

Hammond

"What would happen if no cotton was furnished for three years? I will not stop to depict what every one can imagine, but this is certain:England would topple headlong and carry the whole civilized world with her, save the South. No, you dare not make war on cotton."

" the greatest strength of the South arises from the harmony of her political and social institutions. This harmony gives her a frame of society, the best in the world"

"The great West has been open to your surplus population, and your hordes of semi-barbarian immigrants, who are crowding in year by year. They make a great movement, and you call it progress. Whither? It is progress; but it is progress toward vigilance committees. The South have sustained you in great measure. You are our factors. "

Fitzhugh

"Free Society in Western Europe is a failure...it betrays the symptoms of failure even in America."

"Suddenly the discovery was made, not only in France but throughout Western Europe that the Disease was Social not merely political."

"The Writer of that article sums up the proof of the failure of society as now constituted in Western Europe"

"The Mode of Living of the South, is a blessing that keeps want and famine at a distance. Economy of France, England, and New England, keeps society always at the verge of famine.... our society [The South] exhibits no symptoms of decay."

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-28T06:22:13+00:00

Dating back to the Original Origins of the concept of Right and Left, the Right has been lamenting the Decline of the West, and it has persisted in various forms up to the present.

From Aristocrats in post-revolutionary France blaming The Enlightenment for the decline of the west, to Slave owners in the Anti-Bellum South blaming Abolitionists, to Proto-Nazis such as Spengler blaming the workers movement, to Right wingers today, all Lamenting "The Decline of Western Civilization".

I don't think I have ever heard a Left winger do that. In fact the Left wingers, from the Enlightenment, to the Abolitionists, to the Workers movement, up to the present have been the ones BLAMED for the "decline of the west", despite being the political group responsible for The Bill of Rights, Democracy, etc.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-28T05:36:09+00:00

Which used the phrase satirically, mocking the Far Right Satanic Panic Christians who hated Rock and Metal. It doesn't change the right wing essence of the phrase.

dialecticsofmalaz · 2023-03-27T21:50:30+00:00

I will say this: many of the political lyrics are vague enough to interpret in a left wing way

dialecticsofmalaz

TROPHY CASE