Space Force Officer Relieved After Denouncing CRT/Marxism

[taxi1]

Diatribe Over...?

My daughter is going through a phase, and we argue about political philosophy regularly. I don't know what it is about Marxism that attracts attention, but I constantly use the "it's never been successful in the field" argument to her great frustration.

The other one that drives her nuts is the notion that politics is not scale-free. This quote from Nassim Taleb nails the idea...

“I am, at the Fed level, libertarian;
at the state level, Republican;
at the local level, Democrat;
and at the family and friends level, a socialist.
If that saying doesn’t convince you of the fatuousness of left vs. right labels, nothing will.”

 

[Treetop Flyer]

I hope I didn’t just get flagged for extremism

Pentagon Plans to Monitor Social Media of Military Personnel for Extremist Content

The military has previously balked at surveilling service members for extremist political views due to First Amendment protections.

theintercept.com

This is totally fine guys. This is normal and will be good for the military and the country. Just don’t say or “like” or “share” anything a radical leftist may find objectionable online.

 

[Brett327]

One of the things I’ve gleaned from reading these posts is that some of you equate “leader of organization X expresses Marxist views” with “the sole purpose of organization X is to establish a Marxist state in place of status quo America.” Implied within that idea is a series of slippery slope arguments and counter factual assumptions about American culture, that seem a bit insane to people who aren’t steeped in the alarmist language of right wing politics.

Food for thought.

 

[Python]

One of the things I’ve gleaned from reading these posts is that some of you equate “leader of organization X expresses Marxist views” with “the sole purpose of organization X is to establish a Marxist state in place of status quo America.” Implied within that idea is a series of slippery slope arguments and counter factual assumptions about American culture, that seem a bit insane to people who aren’t steeped in the alarmist language of right wing politics.

Food for thought.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but I do think that the leadership and philosophy behind these programs is Marxist. I do not think it is deliberate to create a Marxist state replacing the status Quo. I’m sure some people think that, but I’d argue that’s some tin foil hat territory.

What I do believe is that the leadership and philosophy behind these programs are Marxist, and that it will cause a large shift in culture, norms, values, and ideology towards Marxism as an effect of its dissemination. That effect does not need to be deliberate to still be dangerous and potent. This would not concern me if it was confined to isolated pockets of loony people and communities. But the point of so many of the posts in this thread is that it is becoming much more mainstream than expected, with every increasing momentum.

Here is a good discussion of the topic in an interview by Bill Maher.

 

[Flash]

@Flash

I have a niece and nephew in Fairfax county so I got to hear a lot about the teachers union and now “equity” initiatives. That survey was an absolutely ridiculous example of how to force someone to provide the data you’re looking for. Should be more “anti-racist” or a LOT more “anti-racist”?

Yet no new policy or guidelines have come out of it yet and I have doubts that anything concrete will come out within the next year given how much will have to be implemented in such a large school system. For all the doom, gloom and angst I've seen so far in this thread about the county school system my kids attend I have yet to see any of the stuff folks are complaining about.

What do you think about Thomas Jefferson High School? I think changing the gifted magnet to a lottery system is great for “equity” and in no way defeats the purpose of a gifted magnet or punishes Asian and white students.

Fairfax Co. tweaks options for admission to prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School - WTOP News

The superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools has offered two new options for admitting students to the highly sought-after Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in an attempt to increase diversity.

wtop.com

That's a whole nuther ball 'o wax that I likely won't have to deal with first hand so I haven't given it too much thought. On one hand it is nice to have that school as an opportunity but it is also unattainable to all but a very few, and considerable resources are poured into that school for a very small segment of the student population. Very few students from my area attend as it has become difficult to compete against families that invest in considerable tutoring and or testing prep to get in the school.

But hey, that’s not as bad as eliminating advanced classes in general if the students taking them are the wrong races. It’s hard to pull people up so let’s drag the “privileged” children down for “equity”.

Virginia to drop advanced math courses before 11th grade, citing 'equity'

The Virginia Department of Education is seeking to eliminate its accelerated math programs below 11th grade, citing “equity” as one of the catalysts for its changes to the mathematics curriculum. The change was presented in a Monday meeting and brought forth by Loudoun County School Board member...

www.washingtonexaminer.com

This is just the beginning.

Not so much. That one puzzled me when I first saw it because it makes no sense to someone actually with kids in schools that would be affected by it, subsequently turning out to be a big fat nothingburger in the end. Shockingly.... , a proposal was taken out of context and folks decried it as whatever -ism they could think of without actually bothering to look at the details.

There is no way they are going to eliminate 'advanced' classes where I am, they are integral in the school system from 3rd grade on up and exist in several different versions and flavors as you get to middle and high school and it would take a wholesale, structural change to the entire school system to eliminate them. Which is why the headlines and claims made no sense in the first place, and wilt under scrutiny.

I have also heard that the Fairfax survey was completely corrupt, in favor of forcing CRT into the schools.

As a parent here I've heard nothing of the kind. It's just a survey, not the end of the world...jeez.

 

[Flash]

One of the things I’ve gleaned from reading these posts is that some of you equate “leader of organization X expresses Marxist views” with “the sole purpose of organization X is to establish a Marxist state in place of status quo America.” Implied within that idea is a series of slippery slope arguments and counter factual assumptions about American culture, that seem a bit insane to people who aren’t steeped in the alarmist language of right wing politics.

Food for thought.

And here I thought all Ford owners were anti-Semitic fascists?!

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Yet no new policy or guidelines have come out of it yet and I have doubts that anything concrete will come out within the next year given how much will have to be implemented in such a large school system. For all the doom, gloom and angst I've seen so far in this thread about the county school system my kids attend I have yet to see any of the stuff folks are complaining about.



That's a whole nuther ball 'o wax that I likely won't have to deal with first hand so I haven't given it too much thought. On one hand it is nice to have that school as an opportunity but it is also unattainable to all but a very few, and considerable resources are poured into that school for a very small segment of the student population. Very few students from my area attend as it has become difficult to compete against families that invest in considerable tutoring and or testing prep to get in the school.



Not so much. That one puzzled me when I first saw it because it makes no sense to someone actually with kids in schools that would be affected by it, subsequently turning out to be a big fat nothingburger in the end. Shockingly.... , a proposal was taken out of context and folks decried it as whatever -ism they could think of without actually bothering to look at the details.

There is no way they are going to eliminate 'advanced' classes where I am, they are integral in the school system from 3rd grade on up and exist in several different versions and flavors as you get to middle and high school and it would take a wholesale, structural change to the entire school system to eliminate them. Which is why the headlines and claims made no sense in the first place, and wilt under scrutiny.



As a parent here I've heard nothing of the kind. It's just a survey, not the end of the world...jeez.

No, Virginia isn’t eliminating advanced math courses. But some proposed changes are drawing fire.

Virginia’s public schools have been in the national spotlight the past few days, with a Fox News headline and resulting social media chatter saying the state is eliminating advanced math clas…

www.pilotonline.com

“
But group members have said one of their goals — addressing inequities in math education — is to deal with the way historical, cultural and societal biases influence which children are viewed as being good at math.
One of the main ways researchers suggest schools do that? Keep students who are at different skill levels in the same classrooms — a concept sometimes called “heterogeneous learning” — for longer. That’s why the pathways plan doesn’t fork in different directions until grades 11 and 12.
Position papers by a national association for math educators that were shared by the education department argue “tracking” students — sorting advanced ones into separate classes — results in the over-representation of white and wealthy students.
“Those that have been privileged by the current system must be willing to give up that privilege for more equitable schooling,” one of the papers reads.”

 

[Python]

Yet no new policy or guidelines have come out of it yet and I have doubts that anything concrete will come out within the next year given how much will have to be implemented in such a large school system. For all the doom, gloom and angst I've seen so far in this thread about the county school system my kids attend I have yet to see any of the stuff folks are complaining about.



That's a whole nuther ball 'o wax that I likely won't have to deal with first hand so I haven't given it too much thought. On one hand it is nice to have that school as an opportunity but it is also unattainable to all but a very few, and considerable resources are poured into that school for a very small segment of the student population. Very few students from my area attend as it has become difficult to compete against families that invest in considerable tutoring and or testing prep to get in the school.



Not so much. That one puzzled me when I first saw it because it makes no sense to someone actually with kids in schools that would be affected by it, subsequently turning out to be a big fat nothingburger in the end. Shockingly.... , a proposal was taken out of context and folks decried it as whatever -ism they could think of without actually bothering to look at the details.

There is no way they are going to eliminate 'advanced' classes where I am, they are integral in the school system from 3rd grade on up and exist in several different versions and flavors as you get to middle and high school and it would take a wholesale, structural change to the entire school system to eliminate them. Which is why the headlines and claims made no sense in the first place, and wilt under scrutiny.



As a parent here I've heard nothing of the kind. It's just a survey, not the end of the world...jeez.

Space Force Officer Relieved After Denouncing CRT/Marxism

www.airwarriors.com

Reread about the survey in that first paragraph. Exactly the same that I heard. Please don’t tell me “it’s just a survey”. An honest and unbiased survey is “just a survey.”

 

[wink]

There were also real 'winners' on the other end of the spectrum as well, and fascism also happened to be trendy in certain parts of society in that exact same time period. This included Americans openly supporting Nazi war criminals in their efforts to get released and rehabilitated to helping homegrown terrorists murder their fellow citizens of the 'wrong' skin color or those that supported them.

True, but aside from the period in time I don't know what it had to do with my reminder about little remembered or understood facts of the "red scare." That was the subject. I am sorry it took over 150 posts before you found a very tenuous connection to a post to blast Nazis. Feel better?

As a parent here I've heard nothing of the kind. It's just a survey, not the end of the world...jeez.

There is no such thing as "just a survey". Fair, balanced, scientific or not, they cost money and are commissioned for one purpose, to be used. Results from that survey, like so many others, will be used to craft and/or justify some sort of change. They will trot out the results and use the media to promote what they say the people want, or what they need because their answers prove a need. Some times it is scientific and fair, sometimes it is not. But it gives a veneer of democracy and scientific analysis. I think it highly unlikely someone has just trashed the survey in question. Time will tell.

 

[HuggyU2]

Let’s also not discount the possibility that this guy is a crackpot.

Good bud of mine flew with him in a previous assignment and knows him well. Says he’s certainly not a crack pot. Just one more data point.

 

[AllAmerican75]

There's 76 books on the list, including the MCPON's list. Maybe one Marxist?

It's balanced by one that is Fascist (Starship Troopers).

Starship Troopers is hardly a book espousing the ideas of the Third Position. Like many of Heinlein's writings, it's all a framework for him to explore his libertarian positions. There is little call in any of his writing for a national mythos of the people, exaltation of the leader as a mythological figure, any sort of racial politics, or any communalism or collectivism.

 

[Brett327]

Starship Troopers is hardly a book espousing the ideas of the Third Position. Like many of Heinlein's writings, it's all a framework for him to explore his libertarian positions. There is little call in any of his writing for a national mythos of the people, exaltation of the leader as a mythological figure, any sort of racial politics, or any communalism or collectivism.

And Starship Troopers has been super popular with youths and adults for decades. I'm now wondering why the nation hasn't shown a huge shift toward the philosophy Heinlein espouses, and why our government isn't now exactly how it is depicted in the book? Weird.

 

[Griz882]

And Starship Troopers has been super popular with youths and adults for decades. I'm now wondering why the nation hasn't shown a huge shift toward the philosophy Heinlein espouses, and why our government isn't now exactly how it is depicted in the book? Weird.

We just got finished with the Ayn Rand transformation...give us some time.

 

[Python]

And Starship Troopers has been super popular with youths and adults for decades. I'm now wondering why the nation hasn't shown a huge shift toward the philosophy Heinlein espouses, and why our government isn't now exactly how it is depicted in the book? Weird.

I addressed this. Heinlein requires some critical thinking and subtextual analysis. The new texts don’t. Also, as previously addressed, polling shows that people are more tolerant of these ideologies than ever before.

If you would humor me, I’d appreciate it you could find five minutes to watch that Bill Maher clip.

 

[taxi1]

I love the book. Who doesn't love a planetary drop with powered armor.

Heinlein requires some critical thinking and subtextual analysis.

In the absence of critical thinking it's pretty easy to read it and say, "Damn, now I think everyone should have to serve in the military to vote."