Farenheit 451 comes to life in the US

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1933 Germany and 2022 Tennessee.

I prefer this take on books from the British Library.
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There's so much of concern going-on in the USA that I'm suffering from unsurprised fatigue...
It all boils down to a lot of paranoid people that are meat to the rabid-right of American life who feel threats from every issue outside of Apple-pie and Mom and the right to bear arms.
 

AuroraSaab

Legendary Member
I think you have to look at it in the context of US schools. They might pledge allegiance to the flag at school but there is no religious education in state schools and parents very much see the adoption of teaching critical race theory as a kind of philosophical indoctrination. They simply do not have an education system that values discussion and examination of beliefs and philosophies, whether religious, social, or moral. This means that whoever controls the school curriculum, whether Left or Right leaning, controls what can be debated and outlaws any dissent.

Add to this the view of many parents, especially in the South, that politics and sex education should be the preserve of families not schools, and there is bound to be conflict. As the article says, online teaching has simply made parents more aware of what's actually on the curriculum.

Unlike the UK with it's National Curriculum, the US has local school boards that decide what is taught and thus you have conflict between areas who want to allow no parental input whatsoever, and areas where parents want to dictate everything. It's a mess.
 

Beebo

Veteran
A guy on the radio today was arguing that USA is no longer a fully functioning democracy.

The Right have given up on democracy because they know they are outnumbered due to demographic changes and are seeking to undermine traditional democratic routes to power such as gerrymandering and blocking postal votes.

Trump didn’t win the popular vote, the electoral college system is already skewed to the conservative rural states.
 

The Crofted Crest

Active Member
I think you have to look at it in the context of US schools. They might pledge allegiance to the flag at school but there is no religious education in state schools and parents very much see the adoption of teaching critical race theory as a kind of philosophical indoctrination. They simply do not have an education system that values discussion and examination of beliefs and philosophies, whether religious, social, or moral. This means that whoever controls the school curriculum, whether Left or Right leaning, controls what can be debated and outlaws any dissent.

Add to this the view of many parents, especially in the South, that politics and sex education should be the preserve of families not schools, and there is bound to be conflict. As the article says, online teaching has simply made parents more aware of what's actually on the curriculum.

Unlike the UK with it's National Curriculum, the US has local school boards that decide what is taught and thus you have conflict between areas who want to allow no parental input whatsoever, and areas where parents want to dictate everything. It's a mess.

I'm sorry, AuroraSaab, but that's hogwash. I agree with a lot of what you say but to write off the whole of a nation like that is far too extreme. Substitute for US France or Africa or New Zealand in the above and think whether your bucket holds water.
 

Rusty Nails

Country Member
Cancelling books like those mentioned.
Cancelling literature because of sensitivities/upsetting people.

Two cheeks of the same arse.
 

AuroraSaab

Legendary Member
I'm sorry, AuroraSaab, but that's hogwash. I agree with a lot of what you say but to write off the whole of a nation like that is far too extreme. Substitute for US France or Africa or New Zealand in the above and think whether your bucket holds water.

I don't know about African countries, but don't NZ and France have centralised school curriculums? I'm not writing off a whole country. I'm saying that this situation arises because the US has a system whereby education isn't controlled nationally, and isn't even controlled on a State level. It seems to be controlled at a very local level by School Boards. What children learn is therefore decided by quite a small number of people, who might well use their political leanings to influence what kids are taught, and whether kids and parents can object. It's just not possible to do that in the UK, fortunately, and it prevents a lot of this nonsense.
 

FishFright

Well-Known Member
I don't know about African countries, but don't NZ and France have centralised school curriculums? I'm not writing off a whole country. I'm saying that this situation arises because the US has a system whereby education isn't controlled nationally, and isn't even controlled on a State level. It seems to be controlled at a very local level by School Boards. What children learn is therefore decided by quite a small number of people, who might well use their political leanings to influence what kids are taught, and whether kids and parents can object. It's just not possible to do that in the UK, fortunately, and it prevents a lot of this nonsense.

Unless you go to public schools who can teach all manner of strange things.
 

AuroraSaab

Legendary Member
Unless you go to public schools who can teach all manner of strange things.

Well of course much of what kids learn at school is not taught in lessons, hence the trope about Waterloo being won on the playing fields of Eton. I do think the US seem to see things through the lens of identity politics far more than in the UK, especially race and religion and they bring this into education and public services in a way we don't. Hence you get JK Rowling books being burnt by right wing Christians, then 20 years later removed from libraries by the left wing.
 

the snail

Active Member
I don't know about African countries, but don't NZ and France have centralised school curriculums? I'm not writing off a whole country. I'm saying that this situation arises because the US has a system whereby education isn't controlled nationally, and isn't even controlled on a State level. It seems to be controlled at a very local level by School Boards. What children learn is therefore decided by quite a small number of people, who might well use their political leanings to influence what kids are taught, and whether kids and parents can object. It's just not possible to do that in the UK, fortunately, and it prevents a lot of this nonsense.
The tories have been politicizing the curriculum for decades, from clause 28 to Gove et al. who try to eliminate any topics seen as negative, like Britain's part in the slave trade.
 
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