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Space Force Officer Relieved After Denouncing CRT/Marxism

Brett327

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This should be deeply concerning to everyone. CRT replaces the economic paradigm in Marxism with a racial one. These ideas are inherently anti-American. Why don’t more speak out? Some say it’s because the true radicals are just a loud minority. But when this stuff creeps its way into institutions of higher learning, and then upper echelons of military leadership, that argument no longer holds weight.
Weird, I studied Marxism in college. Still not a Marxist. I’ve also studied theology, but I remain an atheist. Being exposed to a range of ideas is good for you. Being afraid of ideas you don’t like is a bit silly.
 

Treetop Flyer

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pilot
Weird, I studied Marxism in college. Still not a Marxist. I’ve also studied theology, but I remain an atheist. Being exposed to a range of ideas is good for you. Being afraid of ideas you don’t like is a bit silly.
Let’s go ahead and put The Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf on the reading list too. Those seem relevant to professional education in the Navy. After all, bEinG eXposEd to iDeAs is goOd For yoU
 

RoarkJr.

Well-Known Member
Weird, I studied Marxism in college. Still not a Marxist. I’ve also studied theology, but I remain an atheist. Being exposed to a range of ideas is good for you. Being afraid of ideas you don’t like is a bit silly.
I also studied Marxism in college. I don’t think anyone is against the idea of being able to entertain an idea without necessarily subscribing to it. That’s basic critical thinking.

The problem is that these radical and divisive ideologies are subscribed to and policy is created based on them. That’s not just “entertaining.”
 

Mirage

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pilot
Weird, I studied Marxism in college. Still not a Marxist. I’ve also studied theology, but I remain an atheist. Being exposed to a range of ideas is good for you. Being afraid of ideas you don’t like is a bit silly.
This sort of logic is a bit silly. If 1,000 people read extremist propaganda like this book, most of them will see it as garbage and not be influenced, but some will be influenced by it in a way that is bad for the Navy and America generally. How do you think people are radicalized? Should the CNO put reading material on there about the flat earth? Or about extreme right wing ideologies? Maybe we should use tax payer dollars to allow people to read these types of works for free as well? These would surely help expand people's minds and understand the points of views of others, right? What, are you afraid of these ideas?

I'm not afraid to read these ideas myself, but I would be very afraid if they became, to take the description the CNO applied to it, "foundational" to the curriculum we provide people in an unguided course where nobody is around to challenge the blatant lies and ridiculous arguments.
 

Brett327

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I also studied Marxism in college. I don’t think anyone is against the idea of being able to entertain an idea without necessarily subscribing to it. That’s basic critical thinking.

The problem is that these radical and divisive ideologies are subscribed to and policy is created based on them. That’s not just “entertaining.”
Which of the Navy policies that have resulted from this book being on the reading list (or the general political philosophy it contains) do you disagree with?
 

Brett327

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This sort of logic is a bit silly. If 1,000 people read extremist propaganda like this book, most of them will see it as garbage and not be influenced, but some will be influenced by it in a way that is bad for the Navy and America generally. How do you think people are radicalized? Should the CNO put reading material on there about the flat earth? Or about extreme right wing ideologies? Maybe we should use tax payer dollars to allow people to read these types of works for free as well? These would surely help expand people's minds and understand the points of views of others, right? What, are you afraid of these ideas?

I'm not afraid to read these ideas myself, but I would be very afraid if they became, to take the description the CNO applied to it, "foundational" to the curriculum we provide people in an unguided course where nobody is around to challenge the blatant lies and ridiculous arguments.
I will freely admit that I haven't read to book in question, but I'm somewhat dubious about the proposition that the CNO would put extremist propaganda on his reading list. There's a difference between an ISIS recruiting brochure and a book about CRT. The notion that a bunch of Sailors are going to be somehow radicalized by merely being exposed to it is also... a bit silly. My gut tells me that you're trying to make a mountain out of this molehill.
 

Mirage

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pilot
[
I will freely admit that I haven't read to book in question, but I'm somewhat dubious about the proposition that the CNO would put extremist propaganda on his reading list. There's a difference between an ISIS recruiting brochure and a book about CRT. The notion that a bunch of Sailors are going to be somehow radicalized by merely being exposed to it is also... a bit silly. My gut tells me that you're trying to make a mountain out of this molehill.
Of course there's a difference between an ISIS recruiting brochure and a book about CRT, but my point as it relates to your previous post remains the same - people can be influenced by what they read, even if what they read is ludicrous to most rational readers. Read my post a few back with the direct quotes from the book, then feel free to tell me those are ideas the CNO should be spreading and, to go back to my original point when I first brought this all up, that these ideas are not political in nature. Clearly these are ideas only subscribed to by the very far left, and by putting them on his reading list the CNO has welcomed partisan politics into the military realm.
 

Brett327

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people can be influenced by what they read
Sounds like you feel as though you're smart enough to "see through" the propaganda, but those with lesser intellect may succumb?
Clearly these are ideas only subscribed to by the very far left, and by putting them on his reading list the CNO has welcomed partisan politics into the military realm.
By that standard, nobody should read about Marx... ever... because you'll instantly and irreversibly transform into a Marxist.
 

Sonog

Well-Known Member
pilot
Why do people get triggered about CRT? Legit question, I don't have a full understanding of the concept.
 

taxi1

Well-Known Member
pilot
This sort of logic is a bit silly. If 1,000 people read extremist propaganda like this book, most of them will see it as garbage and not be influenced, but some will be influenced by it in a way that is bad for the Navy and America generally.
I managed to read up on Somali culture and history without joining al Shabaab. I read the monthly newsletters put out by ISIS without strapping a bomb under my SDBs.

On the flip side, I have family members that believe Alex Jones.
One of the books, "How to Be and Antiracist", which is on the "foundational" list for sailors to read, contains the following quotes:
It also contains the following idea:

“There’s a stronger and clearer correlation between levels of violent crime and unemployment levels than between violent crime and race, but that’s not the story policymakers have chosen to tell.“
 

Mirage

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pilot
Are you guys trolling me?

Sounds like you feel as though you're smart enough to "see through" the propaganda, but those with lesser intellect may succumb?

By that standard, nobody should read about Marx... ever... because you'll instantly and irreversibly transform into a Marxist.
Pro-Marxist literature shouldn't be part of the CNO's reading list. I literally just said if any 1000 people read extremist propaganda then only a small minority will be influenced by it. I have a Masters in Regional Security Studies from NPS. I have studied these things in a controlled environment. That's different then the CNO putting it on his reading list, with no explanation that these are bad and anti-American ideas, and with no counter-points or literature provided, and telling sailors to read it without anyone there to even guide a discussion on it.

I managed to read up on Somali culture and history without joining al Shabaab. I read the monthly newsletters put out by ISIS without strapping a bomb under my SDBs.

On the flip side, I have family members that believe Alex Jones.

It also contains the following idea:

“There’s a stronger and clearer correlation between levels of violent crime and unemployment levels than between violent crime and race, but that’s not the story policymakers have chosen to tell.“

Thank you for proving my point. Some people are not as susceptible to certain types of extremist ideas as others. Some people can listen to Alex Jones and think, "Yeah, this guy's right!", and others won't. Should the CNO put monthly ISIS newsletters on his reading list, for Seaman Timmy to read without any context? I guarantee if we made every sailor read ISIS propaganda, we would do more harm than good and some small minority of sailors would be radicalized. If such material is taught in classes, however, or given to people who we know already have strong critical thinking skills (probably everyone on this forum, for example, but not every random sailor who might come across a book in the ship's library on deployment), then it wouldn't be a problem.

As for your additional quote from the book: Who is out there saying there is a higher correlation between violent crime and race than unemployment? I've literally never heard that argument made. Even if this wasn't a straw man argument... great, he had a useful insight in the book to go along with his calls for overthrowing the government and constitution that we are sworn to protect (both of which guarantee capitalism).
 

Treetop Flyer

Well-Known Member
pilot
Sounds like you feel as though you're smart enough to "see through" the propaganda, but those with lesser intellect may succumb?

By that standard, nobody should read about Marx... ever... because you'll instantly and irreversibly transform into a Marxist.
This is the same person that said enlisted sailors were too stupid to make an informed decision on whether to get an emergency use vaccine. Life comes at you fast.
 
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