MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2023
Deciding what gets taught: In Vertigo, Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak end up, one gloomy day, out at Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
They encounter the world's oldest living beings. Gloom-ridden dialogue follows:
Vertigo, screenplay
Madeleine and Scottie near the massive trunk of a tree. Beyond them, the small stream, bridged by a wide flattened redwood log.
MADELEINE: How old?
SCOTTIE: Oh—some, two thousand years, or more.
MADELEINE: The oldest living things?
Scottie nods and watches her, wondering, as she looks about thoughtfully.
SCOTTIE: You've never been here before?
She shakes her head, lost in thought as she lets her gaze wander among the trees.
SCOTTIE: What are you thinking?
MADELEINE: Of all the people who have been born—and have died—while the trees went on living.
Madeleine was strongly inclined toward the gloom. Or at least, so it then seemed.
As we noted on Friday, Mitt Romney has been engaged in a somewhat similar rumination—though he's been thinking of all the empires which have died while the redwoods continued to flourish.
Increasingly, on a daily basis, we wonder if our own American empire will be able to survive.
Is the American project, such as it is, nearing some sort of end? President Biden could get re-elected next year, but we find it increasingly hard to believe that he'll be able to make it.
Meanwhile, Donald J. Trump is full of the "passionate intensity" the poet Yeats made famous. If he ends up going back to the White House, to what extent, and in what form, will the aforementioned project survive?
It seems to us that the die has been cast, that our project may have moved past the point where its fissures can be repaired. We think that when we watch the comically awful Fox & Friends—but we also think that when we review the torrent of framing which emerges from the tribunes of our own flailing tribe.
"Yet this is you," Ezra Pound wrote, in a totally different context, at the end of the poem, Portrait d'une Femme.
Yet this is us, we constantly find ourselves forced to admit. Our side may be paving the path to empire's end, along of course with theirs.
Are we humans built for the kind of work which lets a large, diverse modern nation survive? The anthropologists keep saying the answer is no—and yes, that does include us.
We stumbled upon these gloomy thoughts at various times this weekend. This morning, we were struck by Hannah Natanson's account of a high school teacher in South Carolina who received serious pushback from people who live in her town.
Writing in the Washington Post, Natanson offers a detailed account of a dispute about the material which was taught in an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition course. The headlines on her lengthy report say this:
Her students reported her for a lesson on race. Can she trust them again?
Mary Wood’s school reprimanded her for teaching a book by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Now she hopes her bond with students can survive South Carolina’s politics.
Actually, it was two of Mary Wood's students, but Natanson's detailed piece offers a great deal of food for thought. So too with a presentation we saw on C-Span's Washington Journal this weekend—a presentation about PEN America's methods for identifying "banned books."
Some of the redwoods have been burning in recent years. Various empires came and went in the millennia before that started.
Fox & Friends is often comically awful. Then too, this can sometimes be us.
Tomorrow: Deciding what gets taught
When did the usa become an empire?
ReplyDeleteRead this:
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_imperialism
And this:
Deletehttp://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/i9118.pdf
So, we have already lost our claim to being an empire? I truly do not recall anyone with the temerity to call the US an empire, no matter how opposed to imperialism.
Deleteempire definition: "an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, formerly especially an emperor or empress"
I realize that Trump would like to become an empire, but our country has always considered itself a republic with an elected administrative head called the president, but no single supreme authority.
Words matter.
correction: become an emperor
DeleteGEORGE WASHINGTON called the United States an infant empire.
DeleteThe Constitution says otherwise. George Washington refused to be crowned King.
DeleteWe became an imperial empire in 1989. And we will be the biggest baddest boy on the block for a long long time. That doesn't go away overnight. But Ukraine is the beginning of a new order, Brics, that will become not exactly competing but another organized power structure that will in a small way stand up to our empire and imperial dominance.
DeleteSoon we will enter a new period, after an incredible 30-year run, where we will not have all the power in the world and all the world's business will not have to go through us first.
But that mainly centers around international politics. We are being torn apart from the inside and that may destroy us in some way too. I personally feel like we should have a civil war and kill as many conservatives as we can. I don't see any other way.
Can anyone think of any other option? What would that be?
Funny a reader of liberal blogs doesn't even realize we are an empire for decades now. They do keep them barefoot and pregnant, don't they?
DeleteThe trolling gets worse and worse.
Deletearen't you the yenta who claims Bob is "on the spectrum" because (according to you) he's excessively literal? and yet here you are being excessively literal.
DeleteBob is ultraviolet.
DeleteSince 1991, the U.S. has seemingly stood alone as the global superpower. But today, after a fraught two-decade period shaped by American-led military interventions and direct engagement in regional wars, the Ukraine war highlights the decline of the United States itself. This decline is relative economically and militarily, but serious in terms of U.S. moral authority. Unfortunately, just as Osama bin Laden intended, the U.S.'s own reactions and actions have eroded its position since the devastating terrorist attacks of 9/11. "America fatigue" and disillusionment with its role as the global hegemon is widespread.
DeleteThe constitution doesn’t say this isn’t an empire.
DeleteYes, it does. It says we are a republic.
DeleteSee section 4 of article 4.
DeleteThe united states shall guarantee to each state of the union a republican form of government. That doesn't say that the union is not an empire.
DeleteFor example, the Roman Empire was, in form, a republic. It had a senate along with the emperors.
The USA does not have an emperor, but the top tenth of a percent are an imperial class. And in foreign policy, the US seeks global hegemony. It surrounds rival empires with military bases and dominates the global economy.
It is one thing to say the usa is like an empire, and another to say it is an empire. We do not have a supreme leader. We have 3 coequal branches of government, per the constitution. Engaging in foreign relations with other countries is not the same as owning them and directing their governments. By our constitution, no top % by financial designation governs the republic.
DeleteListen to this flag saluting motherfucker. Listen to this pledge of allegiance and do good bullshit. It sounds like you're reading directly from a fifth grade civics textbook. Pull your head out of your ass.
DeleteCorporate capitalism, defined by the cult of the self and the ruthless exploitation of the natural world and all forms of life for profit, thrives on the fostering of chronic psychological and physical disorders. The diseases and pathologies of despair — alienation, high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety, depression, morbid obesity, mass shootings (now almost two per day on average), domestic and sexual violence, drug overdoses (over 100,000 per year) and suicide (49,000 deaths in 2022) — are the consequences of a deeply traumatized society.
DeleteComments like this, @11:14, are making Somerby depressed.
DeleteYou disagree with a troll here and you get vitriol, like @11:02.
DeleteOldies:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-living_organisms
Natanson's article is behind a pay wall, so we cannot all participate.
ReplyDeleteIt is unclear to me why any student would consider Ta-Nehisi Coates to NOT be part of American writing and composition.
ReplyDeleteThe AP publishes its own suggested list of materials to guide high school teachers who are preparing their classes. The materials listed are those that may be included on the AP exam that determines whether students will get college credit or not, at the end of the term. Many students take such courses in order to be able to receive credit at entrance at whatever university they attend. This saves their parents a lot of tuition money, depending on how many courses they are able to opt out of. So this is a big deal.
When teachers are forbidden to use certain of the materials recommended for a course, then the students are the ones who suffer, because it is difficult for them to pass an exam on materials they have not had a chance to study.
Somerby presents this as if the teacher in question decided to use Coates (a highly regarded black writer fully appropriate for such a class) on her own initiative, which seems unlikely, but even if she did, why is Coates not considered suitable when black authors are part of the American corpus?
This makes no sense to me. But because the article itself is behind a paywall, I cannot read for myself and understand what is happening. Further, Somerby today says nothing at all about his own position on Natanson's article. He is, as always, coy about why he decided to talk about this, what his own position might be, and why he decided to devote today's otherwise empty jumble of words to whatever Natanson said.
"Some of the redwoods have been burning in recent years."
ReplyDeleteRedwoods have always burned. You can tell which ones this has happened to because they have a black empty triangular space at the base of the tree. The rest of the tree does fine with the dead debris cleared out at its base by the most recent fire. This didn't just start happening -- but it has been getting worse. That said, redwoods are a prized wood for its resistance to burning. Building a house with redwood was a way of fireproofing it before manufactured building materials were created. That's why so many of the fine old craftsman-style houses are redwood.
The redwoods are part of national parks and forests. I want to head off Somerby from repeating Trump's claim that CA has forest fires because it doesn't sweep its forest floors. That was his excuse for withholding disaster funds from CA during the last set of major fires (most started by lightning but also caused by poorly maintained power lines, not poor sweeping of the twigs on the forest floor, as Trump still claims).
This is what the teacher, Mary Wood, had to deal with:
ReplyDelete“In emails, the students complained that the book made them ashamed to be White, violating a South Carolina rule that forbids teachers from making students “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” on account of their race.”
This was in response to reading “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
The ironic thing is that the book is about how Coates was made to “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” on account of his race.”
I have no idea what Natanson said, because, like the above commenter, I cannot access the story.
I will note that Somerby, for whatever reason, says “Actually, it was two of Mary Wood's students”, as if the number is critical. The outcome was that Wood was told not to teach the book again. Remember, this was a high school AP course, not third graders. Does Somerby have an opinion on the decision by the school board, or will he tell us that those complaining kids were right and “we liberals” something something, as if there is no legitimate place for Coates in an AP English course?
I tried to like “Between the World and Me”. I liked it, if it was regarded as poetry. I liked it, if it was regarded as Coates's personal feelings.
ReplyDeleteHowever, viewed as supposed picture of reality, I had major qualms. It was whiny. As mh pointed out, it was filled with Coates's complaints about the problem of being black in America. Yet, the book did not describe mistreatment due to being black. On the contrary, the book said he had many opportunities.
Much of literature consists of authors expressing their feelings and thoughts. Why is Coates criticized for doing what authors do? Simone de Beauvoir wrote a classic book called the Second Sex, in which she described her experience being female. Will that be forbidden too? Are only the experiences of white men suitable for a literature class, but aren’t some of them whiny too. Thoreau always impressed me that way.
DeleteIt was his reality. What’s wrong with that?
DeleteSomerby is whiny.
DeleteThe book took the form of a monologue to Coates's son that was a warning about the world he would enter. To suggest that it was about the opportunities before him is ridiculous. Blacks have a modern day voting record that is overwhelmingly Democrat. Hence Republican gerrymandering. Conservative rhetoric has been racist dating back to before William F. Buckley Jr's public disdain for MLK and the civil right's movement, and forward to the Alt Right proponents of Donald Trump. The disdain for blacks couched in the rantings of Fox talking heads is an obvious example. To suggest that blacks as a group vote against their best interests is condescending and purposely ignorant of history here. The civil rights movement was not populated by conservatives. Giving public assistance to black communities as an effort to buy votes and the idea that blacks votes are bought in this way is a racist meme propagated by media outlets like Fox.
DeleteSomerby threatens us with anthropology, yet has already demonstrated he knows nothing about the field, and no, anthropologists do not say we are not built for the kind of work required for a large and diverse nation to survive. That is just a crock of shit he is making up. What Somerby is really expressing is displeasure as we see the Right likely on the ropes in the future, with progressives becoming ascendant.
ReplyDeleteYeats, too, had no accurate understanding of human nature, or of history, and he even leaned into fascism. Nice!
Trump may be the worst, but he is hardly full of "passionate intensity", he is not looking for chaos from which a new world order will arise (although some of his minders seem like they are), no Trump is merely not above any corruption that goes towards his own personal benefit, and also towards keeping out of jail. (oof that DC jury pool)
Interestingly, Somerby also quotes Ezra Pound, known for his anti-semitism.
OK so, so far we have fascism and anti-semitism, what are we missing? Oh yes, racism!
Somerby wants us to just all get along, but I went to high school in South Carolina, not far from Chapin (we liked Chapin since they were always a reliable win for our soccer team, unlike Irmo to whom we always lost), and SC is full of racists and christian nationalists, who are full of violent tendencies and routinely make life miserable for those they consider The Others. It is a shithole state.
As a leftist, I am not much of a fan of Coates although I agree with his takes on racism, he seems more focused on himself and commodifying himself, than issues; he is more an opportunist than anything else. Having said that, the Chapin teacher seems competent, to have good intentions, and some wisdom as well, here is what she said in an interview, which flies in the face of what Somerby tries to push:
"I think it’s really important to not acquiesce just because somebody says something. That doesn’t mean that it’s true.
I would say be bold and don’t back down."
IMO the educational establishment would help black youngsters far more by putting many of Thomas Sowell's books on the syllabus. First of all, they're worthwhile books: well researched, logically argued, thoughtfully and intelligently presented. Also, they would demonstrate how open the world is to black youths if they simply do what other people do to succeed. Thirdly, it would give them a positive role model to emulate -- someone who succeeded by doing good work, not by being a victim.
ReplyDeleteI get emotional over the victim stuff. IMO it's virtually child abuse to encourage black children to think that they should become victims. In the short run this approach can bring some benefits, such as affirmative action preferences. But, in the long run, victimhood is a dead end. It means giving up your initiative to other people.
Are you seriously saying that black people made themselves victims, victimized themselves? How did George Floyd do that? What more could Ketanji Brown Jackson do to get Somerby to agree she is qualified for the Supreme Court?
DeleteDavid seems to be suggesting that black people volunteered for slavery so that Coates could later victimize himself by demanding that his book be banned because he is black and thus too different for his thoughts to matter.
@7:07 I am not saying that black people made themselves victims. I am saying that YOU and the Democrats made black people victims.
DeleteLBJ's civil rights act was wonderful. So was other early legislation. But at some point the Democrats went off the rails. They wanted black people to be victims, so that blacks could be grateful for stuff the Democrats gave them. It worked politically: blacks are overwhelming Democrats. But it didn't work so well as policy. After over 50 years and TRILLIONS of dollars, there is still a huge black underclass in this country.
You have to know that whatever black people have received in social services, white people have received much more. They are the huge majority of welfare and scholarship and other benefit recipients. Why is there still a huge white underclass? Are white people also being classified as victims by Democrats? If Democrats are buying votes, why does the white underclass support Trump?
DeleteThe white underclass supports Trump for many different reasons but one place to look for an answer is in trade policy.
DeleteAnd now there is nowhere else for them to go. The only other party does not welcome them and has openly called them stupid racists for years now.
Your explanation is different than David’s.
DeleteDemocrats pander to the Black community. They do a lot to try to make it seem like they are the party for young Black men or Black men as a whole, but they don't back it with anything. They don't follow through.
DeleteReally, is my explanation different from Davids??? Thanks for your incredible insight.
DeleteIf they don’t follow through where those trillions come from?
DeleteDIC, isn't Coates your cousin or your high school classmate or something?
DeleteGet a life, you Zelig creep.
This was one of the weirdest parts of the Durham report:
ReplyDelete~~~~~~
"Based on declassified documents, in the public, record there was intelligence information... that intelligence, included information that there was a purported plan, designed by one of mrs. Clinton's former policy advisers, to create a scandal tying donald trump to the russians. That is the essence of the intelligance as contained in the de-classified information."
Did the president receive this intelligence?
"On august 3rd, of 2016, then director Brennan and had briefed the president, vice presidents director of national intelligence, the fbi attorney general"
Q. So Mr. Comey knew about this, president Obama knew about this, vice president Biden knew about this. But it was not provided to the agents on the case, or provided with the secret fisa court is that correct?
That is correct.
Q. Why was it not?
We can tell you what the facts are, people can draw their own conclusions from that.
off topic trolling
DeleteIt speaks directly to the topic. How can our nation survive when half of us don't even realize the aforementioned and actually deny it!? When established institutional powers collude to prevent someone from becoming president, that fucking pisses the people that support them off a lot. And it contributes to our demise in doing so.
Deletegood thing that hasn’t happened
Delete7:09 you were debunked on this ages ago, and it still stands; the intelligence was that Russia was trying to push a misinformation campaign falsely trying to suggest that the Clinton campaign was trying to create a scandal about Trump and Russia.
DeleteThis was not intelligence about the Clinton campaign doing something, it was about the Russians trying to stir up misinformation that Clinton was doing something.
Since you know this, you are just trying to push your own misinformation, thus your claims are false and irrelevant.
No I did not know that. That is awesome to know. Just drop your source here when you get a chance.
DeleteI'm not holding my breath.
Quoting from the public record is not misinformation.
DeleteSpeculations and accusations, even from a public record such as a court filing or congressional hearing, are not facts.
DeleteMy favorite part of the Durham Report is when they asked Durham to make his allegations under oath, and he got amnesia.
DeleteI haven’t read the book, but it seems that Coates is writing about HIS personal experience and HIS view of how life is in the U.S. for black people .
ReplyDeleteThis could be part of an indoctrination course on institutionalized white supremacy via whiteness (or sumpthin…), but such subject matter isn’t automatically that and a good teacher can and should juxtapose Coates’ experiences with conversation on racial progress.
Based upon the slight info we have here, if my teenager was offended by Coates’ book, I’d tell her that it’s important that she open her ears and perhaps learn something.
Keep in mind that this is an AP course on writing. The discussion should focus on style and technique. Coates is a good writer that students can learn writing from.
DeleteOh, Coates can be downright lyrical.
DeleteThat's rich, concern of indoctrination coming from someone that pretends to be a woman.
DeleteOh!
Anonymouse 12:47am, Ive been fairly good at that since I don’t know when.
DeleteIf you were actually a woman, you would know when a girl becomes a woman.
DeleteWell, according to one definition of that you’re still a munchkin.
DeleteTa-Nahisi is pronounced ta-nahasi.
ReplyDeleteBut it's spelled Ta-Nehisi.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe what David says about his family.
ReplyDelete