Higher Education Must Champion Democracy, Not Surrender to Fascism

[Photo: Empty classroom in Harper Valley HS, West Virginia. (M R, flickr, 5/17/2014)]

By: Henry A. Giroux
Source: Truthout

Editor's Note

If you destroy faith in education and assign it only to “elites” then it becomes an object of scorn or worse, must be destroyed. The destruction of public education has been an action plan of the Republicans for decades as they have moved further and further to the right. From desegregation and white flight to magnet schools to starving schools of funding to the latest attacks to ban books and gag teachers, the plan to eliminate public education has been relentless … and effective. Problematically, it also moves us closer to being a nation where the wealthy rule over a population stripped of the intellectual tools and skills to push back.

Category: Activists, Education, Henry A. Giroux, JD Vance, Resources | Comments Off

27 December 2024

Israel’s War on Gaza Is a War on Children

[Photo: Children in Gaza wait for food. Hosnysalah, Pixabay.]

By: Henry A. Giroux
Source: Truthout

Editor's Note

It is almost impossible to grasp what is happening to the children of Gaza. Displaced and forced to move from one end of Gaza to the other. Bombs and missiles exploding around them and being the direct target of rifle fire. Many, now bereft of all family, find themselves either caring for younger siblings, or in the care of strangers. There is no quiet; no safe place, no food or clean water, and no warm clothing to protect from the cold. Children now need hearing aids because of exposure to constant explosions. Is it any wonder that their affect range from rage to crushing depression? Will we see children taking their lives as we have seen in other situations where children have been ripped from their lives and culture?

Category: Activists, Education, Gaza, Genocide, Henry A. Giroux, Israel, U.S., Violence | Comments Off

12 December 2024

Neoliberalism’s Plague: The Erosion of Conscience in Education

[Graphic: Via Vivre Livres!]

By: Henry A. Giroux
Source: LA Progressive

Editor's Note

Over the course of my lifetime, or more specifically my social and political consciousness, I have watched to the persistent effort to de-democratize my country – the United States. Millions of people before me and along with me have pressed to expand civil and social rights and social justice. I know that I stand off the shoulders of those who fought and died to give me the rights and recognition I have. While we are still far short of equality, that effort continues. On the other hand, I have watched persistent efforts to march in the opposite direction – the direction of the concentration of wealth, restrictions of rights, the destruction of institutions, and the social contract.

Social Contract

noun
an implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. Theories of a social contract became popular in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries among theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as a means of explaining the origin of government and the obligations of subjects.
Ecosia, Oxford Languages

Category: Education, Henry A. Giroux, Neoliberalism | Comments Off

23 November 2024

Israel and America Pursued Fraudulent Scenarios of Peace and Ceasefire in War on Gaza

[Photo: Gaza, USA, and the Arab Regimes. Carlos Latuff, 1/17/2009).]

By Mahboob Khawaja, PhD

Editor's Note

In this essay Dr. Khawaja takes a step further the US’ role in Israel’s war against Hamas. Namely, the US has actively and knowingly colluded with Israel in the decimation of Palestinians. I can’t step that far, but I do think that the US has consistently prioritized Israel in all situations, protected it at the UN with its veto votes on the Security Council, and provided both military and financial aid to Israel. In any other situation, one might think that Israel is an American colony, but the relationship is darker than that. Israel is the hand inside the US glove in the Middle East. It is more than an ally and less than a proxy. It is more of a quid pro quo relationship where the US protects and supports Israel, and Israel protects US interests in the Middle East.

Category: Criminal Justice, Gaza, Incarceration, Israel, Lies Damn Lies - Propaganda, Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D., Police, Sexism, U.S., War and Conflict | Comments Off

18 November 2024

So the election happened…

[Photo: Evolution … Devolution]

By Elizabeth Anker
Source: By My Solitary Hearth

Editor's Note

I love the writing of Elizabeth Anker. She writes with a pull-no-punches honesty that keeps heart and a connection to the Earth. That is the case as she puts our fall into fascism in its appropriate place – as part of our broader system failures. And here is where the hard truth bites. It is ourselves to blame for the disaster.

Category: 2024 Elections, Climate Chaos, Culture, Elizabeth Anker, Institutions, Pull Right - Fascism, Resources | Comments Off

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Higher Education Must Champion Democracy, Not Surrender to Fascism

Israel’s War on Gaza Is a War on Children

Neoliberalism’s Plague: The Erosion of Conscience in Education

So the election happened…