[lbo-talk] David Carr vs. Waiting for Superman

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Mon Dec 20 19:28:59 PST 2010


I've pretty much given up trying to read web sites unless it's something I want to keep permanently in a word file.

BUT, probably not relevant to anything in the article but suggested to me by some phrase, I forget which, in the quoted passage.

Wall Street will be Wall Street. We're not going to have an insurrection in (say) the second week of February, 2011, so why worry about the bailouts. That has become mere gossip of no political relevance. (Relevance means it can either be used, now, in building a non-electoral mass movement OR you have reason to believe posts on lbo will persuade Obama and the DP to become everything they are not. An insurrection is more likely.

SO. What are the topics that are actually important for radicals to discuss today?

I think there are two and only two. (Others may pop up from nowhere but for now...)

1. Defense of the Latino Community: it is not just so-called "illegal immigrants" that are under attack, though they are the focus.

2. The attack on the schools. I think I submitted a post on this I actually thought would get some response but it dropped into the abyss.

The culmination of the neoliberal attack on u.s. working people that began under Carter is the present attack on the schools -- i.e. on one of the largest and in many different ways(economic and political) most important work force in the u.s. are the teachers inn public schools and colleges.

If leftists do not give deep thought to this, its implications, and possible ways to organize to resist the assault . .. I guess then in my opinion they are not leftists.

Carrol

-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of michael perelman Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 8:58 PM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] David Carr vs. Waiting for Superman

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/business/media/20carr.html?ref=business

"... Which is odd when you think about it. If you are looking for an American institution that failed the public, made resources disappear without returning value and lacked accountability for its manifest sins, the Education Department would be in line well behind Wall Street. By now, the notion that business is a place built on accountability and performance should be as outdated as the one-room schoolhouse. Ask yourself, what would happen if American public schools were offered hundreds of billions in bailout money? One outcome is not in the cards: its leaders would not end up back at the trough so quickly, sucking up tens of millions in bonuses as Wall Street has."

-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929

mperelman at csuchico.edu

530 898 5321 fax 530 898 5901 http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk



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