Lemon Learners
or: why I think we should permenantely destroy the Capitalist Monster
Ironically, as I am sitting in the BC library, typing this paper on global capitalism and its infrigement upon human equality, there is a promotional commercial being filmed. In response to my inquiries at the reference desk I was informed that the subject is academic related, in fact, an advertisement for a non-CUNY law school. Intrestingly enough, this incident emphasizes the topic of my paper and consequently what Hill refers to as neo-liberal institutions that form current educational policy.
Capitalism is single handedly responsible for the current state of social erosion. 'Free markets' have expanded into all areas of domestic life, creating an unprecedented world of economic imperialism. In truth, the so called 'free-market model' is not free at all, and to argue differently is simply delusional. In reality the 'market model' of today is a system that benefits and extends the 'global coproate market'. Investigation reveals that the top 1% of the richest people in America have the equated financial value of the bottom 95%. In US the ratio of growth inequalities is at a staggering 470-500:1 making living standards in the least developed countries lower than thirty years ago. 300 million people now live on less than a dollar a day. Rigowski and other social commentators argue that organizations like the World Trade Organization and IMF do not exist for the benefit of humanity but as capital playgrounds and "global clubs for the mega- capitalists". Essentially capitalism is a harness by which to control what Noam Chomsky calls the "bewildered masses".
Because today's educational system resembles a giant corporation, students that do not 'fit in' with the hegemonic structure are generally discriminated. School is no longer a place of critical reflection but revolves around 'educational business plans' and 'growth output analysis'. We are in an age of educational decay that is ruled by neutralized test scores. We are not interested in producing maximized students, we want drone-like facotry workers, a desensitized labor force that does nothing but increase the wealth of the wealthy.
Society functions in a state of constant Illusion. Now, more than ever, is there need for class analysis, and yet we see unbelievable complacency. We see, students that do not 'meet the criteria for labor management' deemed 'unteachable' and eventually ousted from the system. If we cannot 'educate' them to wear a McDonald uniform, we question their capital value. We cannot 'produce' a society of malfunctioning workers, or 'lemon learners' to feed the capitalist machine. Pink Floyd had it right "we don't need no education", and Mark Twain's similiar sentiment was right on target: the best students are those that remain untainted by their educational experience. Humanity must stop dictating life by the stock market. As a Marxist (go ahead and build the gallows) I belive that a complete and total return to a social perspective is vital to the continutity of human civilization.
Teachers are essential to growth of capitalism because they ensure the foundation of the entire capitalist system: labor-power. Standardized testing and government policies like the No Child Left Behind Act are contributing to the eventual privitization of schools and what is, the ultimate business arrangement. Already the language of education reflects the business market. Students are bank accounts. They come to school to be 'desposited' with information, despite the fact that education is a commodity that cannot be bought and sold. One can buy the means to an education, but not the autonmous core of learning itself. Education, as an institution, is amongst one of the last social institutions which is genuinely free and accessible to the public. Freedom in the market is a carte blanche that is unanswerable, while in education is precisely the freedom to question and to seek answers. In this vein, the ideal student is the 'lemon learner', constantly questioning, challenging the institutions in which he or she functions.
So why do we resist change? I believe that people truly hold onto to the "american dream" or what we can exchange with a more relevant term I like to call the "walmart fantasy". Why give up capitalism if one day you may be the next multi-billion dollar entrepeneur? What a ludicrous notion. Capitalism is a powerful system that breeds only social irresponsibility. We must enable a transformative approach inspired by a revolutionary pedagogythat fully eradicates the capitalist system. We must utilize every available space for the counter-hegemonic struggle, at the very least we will end the discrimation our 'lemon learners'...
[congratualtions if you've made it thus far... the ball is officially in your court]
damn it! I'm late...I'm late... !!!!
posted by HindiK at 12:29 AM
22 Comments:
Hinda, you lost me somewhere between the second line and the third - no time to think now... but I wanted to wish you a very happy holiday, I'm sure it's rockin on your side of town, tho' nothin like jeruuuuu... Bet Shemesh, Cafe Rimon and the Frenchies, tryin to hitch a ride at 4am, sleeping at the bus stop... what else???
Thinkin of ya in grey England...
i know otherwise titles Me: 9-5 Thinking Mode (boring i know.)
i totally forgot about the sleeping in the bus stop bit...ha! and of course hitching rides with Arabs to Gilo from that fabulously insane Bet Shemesh concert... lordy lord... that was quite the life.
thanx for notsalgia of fun-ner times...
cheers to rainy England.
I don't know much about this topic, but may I point out that your 300 million people living on less than a dollar a day live in non-capitalist countries, some even communist?
And that for all of America's flaws and inequalities, people from every country imaginable, including (especially?) communist, are dying to get in?
Even if the flaws you mention are real, maybe a practical utopian society just isn't possible, and capitalism, as history has shown, is a hell of alot better than communism?
Note the term marxism and not communism. the only historic implimentation of the marxist model has been communism- primarily the Russian version. (We've lumped Marxism with communism and thus made the entireideology "taboo".)
Many will argue that the 1991 movement from Russian 'communism' to capitalism was extremely easy- the money was already in the hands of a selected few (the name of the system only changed).
Can you support your claims a bit stronger?
and more imporantly why do you believe that Marxism is a Utopian ideal?
In truth, the so called 'free-market model' is not free at all, and to argue differently is simply delusional.
Is this some new conspiracy theory? I personally know people who have gone from nothing to financial security without ever getting on the "inside", but by simply taking advantage of capitalism and cashing in its opportunities.
Investigation reveals that the top 1% of the richest people in America have the equated financial value of the bottom 95%. In US the ratio of growth inequalities is at a staggering 470-500:1 making living standards in the least developed countries lower than thirty years ago. 300 million people now live on less than a dollar a day.
Big deal. Money makes money. But consider the fact that even the "poor" in America are living far better than people in other economies. This just proves my point that the whole philosophy of socialism (and communism) is, "if I'll be poor, you better be poor too." If you know any Russians, you'll know that the way they think is that as long as the other guy has it worse, they'll go through hell and smile the whole way through. Which is why Communism developed there. The American way is personal motivation. I'll cut a deal with you as long as it helps me- even if you make more than me!
And those very poor societies, are they capitalist????
Essentially capitalism is a harness by which to control what Noam Chomsky calls the "bewildered masses".
Even if for some reason you don’t trust people, and you believe that the govt. would do a better job looking out for us than we can do on our own, please, please don't flip the issue. Privatization, and capitalization is all about personal responsibility. Socialism is when people trust the govt. with their own lives more than they trust themselves! Because they are "bewildered masses" and if you told them to invest in their own lives, they'd all go running. So they tell the govt. to take all their money and take care of them. Imagine a commie with stock options?! Talk of bewildered masses!
Because today's educational system resembles a giant corporation, students that do not 'fit in' with the hegemonic structure are generally discriminated. School is no longer a place of critical reflection but revolves around 'educational business plans' and 'growth output analysis'. We are in an age of educational decay that is ruled by neutralized test scores. We are not interested in producing maximized students, we want drone-like facotry workers, a desensitized labor force that does nothing but increase the wealth of the wealthy.
Exactly! the worst system in America- public education, is the most socialist system in America! Look no further than public schools if you're torn between capitalism and socialism!
Pink Floyd had it right "we don't need no education", and Mark Twain's similar sentiment was right on target: the best students are those that remain untainted by their educational experience.
Exactly. Because today's education is all about removing natural emotion and bias- and personality. Boys are made into girls and girls into boys. Kids who play cops and robber are suspended. Games don’t have winners and losers. The product of such education is a generation of homosexual retards who then feed the system that broke them. Look at kids who go to private, religious schools. Motivated, normal, HUMAN, and reproductive.
I believe that a complete and total return to a social perspective is vital to the continutity of human civilization.
Haven't enough people died on rafts trying to flee tyrannical Cuba? Have the Gulag farmers died for this post? How about those shot in freedom square? or how about North Korea's mass genocides and prison camps? Show me one model of socialism that worked. France? Turn on the news and watch the turmoil of a country buried in its own policies. A country on the verge of self-annihilation, now resorting to such last resort measures as RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION!
Why give up capitalism if one day you may be the next multi-billion dollar entrepreneur?
Why give up capitalism if doing so would mean being tossed into a mass grave, or why give up capitalism if doing so would mean an end to religious freedom, or why give up capitalism if doing so would mean having to move into a govt. issued one bed room apt., eating govt. issued canned food, would be a better way of asking the question.
I suggest you grab some George Orwell, and start reading.
I don't consider Marxism utopian.
I was saying that every system has its' flaws, and to highlight those of capitalism isn't enough; you have to show them to be worse than those of Marxism.
A utopian society is where each person advances in porportion to his/her individual dosage of balls and brains.
I know I lumped Marxism and communism together, but honestly, I don't know the difference; all I notice is that pure Marxism has never been practicaly introduced, rather it has always mutated into communism. Doesn't that itself say something?
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woohoo! this is the most exciting blog in this cyberworld hemisphere (???!!!)
here's some half-baked thoughts:
kaiser makes me angry.
some kibbutzim are fun.
(though they are serious ideology pot holes.)
yeah, so everyone wants to live by an ideal, and socialism is serious brain candy on paper. that's why people were crazy into it way back in the day, i guess. but like anonymous stated (wow you really got into that post! play@namastaei is rocking! 5 points!) countries that have adopted socialism went haywire real fast and then killed a whole bunch of people.
but hindel- if you can come up with a good health care system (which anonymous would possibly postulate is an oxymoron) i'm in!
wooops...seems i've mistaken anonymous with ishechad. ummm...5 points to both?
Nahama, I guess that's one advatage to living in England - free healthcare for everyone, if you can be bothered to wait. It's not perfect, there are alot of glitches, but no one misses out on medical attention just because they can't afford it.
Does that make us socialist? If so, count me in.
angelique, i hear your appreciation for free health care.
without going into a whole harrange about my negative hmo experiences, which will be more about me than any actual point ;), i'll just ask a question-
why do people come to america for health treatment?
The same way I sometimes choose to go private - it's faster, and you get better service. But that's because I can afford private health insurance. What does America offer those that don't? Those that earn too much to go on medic-aid, but not enough to go private? That's the pro of free health-care, no one gets left on a limb.
P.S. Hind, I'll give you nostalgia anytime, beats thinking about how dreary my life is at the mo. At least I start school after the hols - you may have had enough of it, but I've had enough of being on the level of a 3 yr old...
Ciao babe...
Racism, sexism, homophobia have never been as prevalent, obvious and destructive as they are today...
Where? In America? Racism and sexism? Aren't there both, a black, and a woman, on our supreme court? I'm not saying that homophobia doesn't exist. what I am saying is that you're seriously exageraitng it, and saying that it's worse now than ever before is just wrong from an historical perspective. Unless you are refering to socialist dictatorships where these concepts are very prevalent.
do you harbor some fantasy of being the next Bill Gates??
Everyone needs a dream :)... Imagine I had billions of dollars.... No shliach would ever have to fundraise again!!!
no, i haven't been hiding out in my Y2K bunker or planning my escape to cuba... I've been catching up (and still am) on some work (yes, there is life beyond the screen) and reading a fairly decent book (tho' who am i to judge) called the witch of cologne (underline that please). considering it was an international bestseller (although that defines nothing) i figured i'd give it a shot- looks like something other than Danielle Steele makes The List.
I will respond and to the best of my abilities, my position. I am particularly peeved to "Privatization, and capitalization is all about personal responsibility."
Spew whatever propogandic information you want (do you harbor some fantasy of being the next Bill Gates??)- we have never lived in an era of greater social irresponsibility. Don't get caught up in euphemistic ideology- observe that world as it clearly IS. Racism, sexism, homophobia have never been as prevalent, obvious and destructive as they are today...
okay, okay more later.
angel cake i'm never bored of school (aside from the 18 years of mandatory institutionalism)- its mental frustration and scheduled tedium that gets to me...
okay, okay i'm off to my uncles 50th birthday party.
i actually do like eating lasgana in the rain.
I guess I'm alright then, b/c I'm only in class once a week - the rest is courseowrk and experience. We'll see how it goes. How was the party? Glad to hear that we're not the only ones suffering from the rain...
P.S. Have you seen the engagement epidemic that's sweeping through MSY??? Go on, hon, surprise me... ;)
bebe: ou est ton tete??
mais oui! je suis la "femme typique de MSY" ha ha! merci beaucoup.
who else is engaged? i am so (merci Dieu.) out of it...
and so what? i wish them all the best,
barefoot, babies, and brownies. (just in case, petite, you are wondering where i am holding in my "quest of Ring" i've only got the first part down pat- otherwise disaster disaster disaster).
ahh!! petite! feel free at any time- you know i love London...
pardon mois maintenant pour une minute...
i must deal with these capitalist blood suckers...
So i guess its high time to resolve some of those claims... (although i am slightly bored of fighting with everyone [sans one skater punk philo professor] about this).
New York City is the ultimate rat race, it is the epicenter of the capitalist universe. Granted we are always in a state of subjectivity, but in order to have this discussion one must remove themselves as much as possible from their five feet of habitation. Admittedly, it's very easy to defend capitalism when you are benefiting from it.
Who would want to 'destroy' something that seemingly 'works' for them??
Believe it or not in the early 20th century there were still Congressional debates questioning if capitalism was the ideal system to implement in America (as my readers are aware the UK, France etc. all have socialist elements in their government policies).
Today, if you even remotely challenge capitalism you are attacking the American creed, you are accussed of being 'unamericanized' of what we claim now to be our national heritage. Historic investigation will show that even the founding fathers did not know what do to do with the public. Power was to be held by the few, and "the bewildered masses" needed to be controlled.
There is room for economic debate. There is a need and a place for sociological reform. I warn you with due advance, if you are one of the annoying ghetto heads (although to some degree we all are) who insist that they are the only people of the universe to assert their existence, please do not even bother responding. And for your information I am not a liberal, neo-liberal, or green party groupee, so please articulate accordingly. As a general rule of thumb, academic dialogue is about thinking beyond yourself, thinking away from 'personal paradigms' spacially and mentally.
Now that the structure is somewhat more secure... I think one of the key mental obstacles in picturing a socialized America is obvious: capitalism has infiltrated every sociological dimension. The very nature of capitalism is to morph and spread, find new territories imperializing markets for new profits. It is difficult to think beyond it, because it simply is Everywhere.
A socialized America would not turn us into a Red State. We wouldn't start waiving sickles in the air or make Wall Street investors into communal farmers (that's the results of McCarthyism right there). There would simply be more opportunities available (yes opportunites in socialism, seems contrary?). More money accessible for the people (try getting a grant for grad school even with a 4.0H and get back to me), and we would train our yunguns to work in professional fields rather than McDonalds. By the way Cuba has the highest amount of graduate school students per capita.
America is lost without its 'bewildered masses'. We depend on dim-witted workers. We train kids to be 'dim witted' workers. As soon as people start thinking too much, start aiming too high, we impliment control methods. If our labor power is gone- who will support the system??
And lordy lord! What would happen if we simply removed this 'check' we place on society? (I refer you, although he in an anarchist, to Noam Chomsky's work)
You may claim it doesn't exist. It does. I assure you. It's on TV, in history text books, advertising... we emphasize social stigmas because we rely on them for economic production. It's a very simply mathematical formula.
And this in turn perpetuates the rule that capitalism breeds social stratification. You may argue what's wrong with that? So we identify differently. Let's define social stratification then... it is not multi-culturalism (which we ALL promote) it is a social pyramid that promotes one group of people over the next for whatever reason. This is not an Al Sharpton address, it applies to many people in many financial states... observe the cannon we teach in schools, what are we urging our students to be? themselves? i think not.
If you want to see the silent American class system investigate the cash flow in public school districts, take note of social stigmatized policies like 'affirmative action'. Don't kid yourself my friend- having a female or black supreme court justice means nothing, it's probably a political meneauver to ensure the feminist and minority votes.
Socialized medicare (and not in the UK model), and a completely overhauled public education system would dramatically change the face of our society. The government's involvement in the people rather than millionaire taxes may actually serve its function as a government. It would allow people to escape the classes we subconsciously create to contain them... it would make a home for the land of "the AMERICAN wretched, tired and poor", it would create an american America.
h.l.- i'm always impressed by your writing and articulation skills. i see defending your point is becoming a bore (how many times a day do you do this?!), but you will be hard pressed to get any applause for juxtuposing the words socialism and america. it could be compared (in the run away in shock idea, no more than that) to a watered-down form of presenting a jew with a cross. your critique of america holds true in many cases- but i don't believe the problems you bring up are fundimental enough to warrant a complete system replacement. would you advocate a situation in the US similar to that in europe (with a mix of the 2 systems)? perhaps we need something completely new?
btw- 1st marx and now chomsky? i flee in terror! ;)
thanks everybody.
i am printing this all up and handing it in as a responsive paper...
!!
thanks for the material.
Admittedly, it's very easy to defend capitalism when you are benefiting from it.
Who would want to 'destroy' something that seemingly 'works' for them??
So if you're benefiting, and I'm benifiting, and everyone's benifiting, why want to destroy it?
Power was to be held by the few, and "the bewildered masses" needed to be controlled.
Again with the slogans... America was founded based on a desire for PERSONAL LIBERTY.... Where you get this theoy from stumps me. The founding fathers were the ultimate libertarians, and translated in economic terms, capitalist.
(yes opportunites in socialism, seems contrary?)
Yes it DOES.
By the way Cuba has the highest amount of graduate school students per capita.
And they have the highest DEATH BY FALLING OFF OF RAFTS, per capita too.
If our labor power is gone- who will support the system??
Of course, the refugees from Cuba!
You may claim it doesn't exist. It does. I assure you. It's on TV, in history text books, advertising... we emphasize social stigmas because we rely on them for economic production. It's a very simply mathematical formula.
And Bush orchestrated 9/11, and Alliens are really controlling our minds with powerfull lazer beams.
Don't kid yourself my friend- having a female or black supreme court justice means nothing, it's probably a political meneauver to ensure the feminist and minority votes.
And Condi, possibly one of the most powerfull people in America, is both, Blach and female. To ensure votes???
First part's a step in the right direction... More than I can claim, tho' I was fortuante enough to have a 50 yr old pervert hit on me over the Holidays - the kind of guy you imagine sitting in a chat room saying 'I'm 18 and I like little girls, or boys...'. Euw. May I ask who is the lucky recipient?
Your French is impressive - been practicing? Hmm Maybe I can find you a nice Frenchie... :)
Have yourself a luuuurvely Shabbat, my dear.
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