Friday, March 03, 2006

Freedom to Teach?

Ok, so, lately my posts have been fluff. Here I go at a political post.

I just got done listening to Jay Bennish teach his High School Geography class. The teacher was suspended for comments he made about the State of the Union address from Bush. He also made negative comments on capitalism. Now, in listening, two things went through my head... the first being "right on." The second was, "hmmm, maybe in college, but high school?" Here are a few quotes:

"capitalism is at odds with humanity, at odds with caring and compassion, and at odds with human rights"

"the United States is the most violent nation on the planet."

"when profit is the bottom motive, money, money is going to become more important than... safety, human lives, etc..."


This next quote was written down while listening to the audio, so there are a few errors, but the important parts are all there:

"He started off his speech by saying America is the country that should dominate the world, that we have been blessed, essentially, by God, to have the most civilized, most advanced system, and that it's our duty, as Americans, to use the military to go out into the world and to make the world like us. Sounds a lot like the things that Adolf Hitler used to say, 'we're the only ones that are right, everyone else is backwards, and it's our job to conquer the world and make sure they all live just like we want them too.' Now, I'm not saying that Bush and Hitler are exactly the same, obviously they're not. But there are some eerie similarities to the tones that they use. Very, very ethnocentric."


So, I love what he says, but I wonder if it's too much for High School. Thoughts anyone?

Fair and Balanced View of Jay Bennish (yeah, it's sarcasm)

4 comments:

fountainstylerootbeer said...

i like that guy.

curtis said...

I appreciate his perspective, but I have to ask whether such comments would garner your praise if they were of the opposite political persuasion. He certainly seems to be a bright, informed individual, even if I disagree with him.

curtis said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
curtis said...

More in-depth thoughts of mine here.