What Were We Thinking?

 

Imagine my surprise when I learned that the College Board, the organization that produces many Advanced Placement courses and the SAT for colleges around the country, agreed to meet the curricula expectations of Florida’s Department of Education. Unfortunately, someone “woke up” to the impact of that decision—caving in to the powers-that-be, Gov. DeSantis, in particular—and when the new draft content was presented, the Leftist protests began:

David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization that advocates for Black LGBT people, asked the College Board to ‘consider pulling all AP classes from the State of Florida if Governor DeSantis continues to try to inject his political agenda into our classrooms.’

‘We urge the College Board to reconsider censoring its curriculum and the education of our young people to meet the demands of a Governor with a radical political agenda and stand firm in the belief that Black history in its beautiful diversity is American History,’ Johns said in a statement on Wednesday.

When the College Board realized how many woke Black Americans they had offended with the changes, they had this response:

‘We deeply regret not immediately denouncing the Florida Department of Education’s slander, magnified by the DeSantis administration’s subsequent comments,’ the College Board statement said. ‘Our failure to raise our voice betrayed Black scholars everywhere and those who have long toiled to build this remarkable field.’

What did they remove?

Though the nonprofit maintains it did not ‘purge’ the curriculum of key lessons concerning ‘Black feminism’ and ‘gay Black Americans,’ it also acknowledged a reduction in the ‘breadth’ of the new framework.

Of the units that appeared in the pilot course, those about intersectionality and activism, Black feminist literary thought, and Black Queer Studies are not in the final curriculum.

The framework also drops its exploration of the origins, mission and global influence of the Movement for Black Lives. Instead, Black Lives Matter is listed alongside Black conservatism as a sample course project, labeled ‘Illustrative Only.’

With these revisions, works by scholars including Roderick Ferguson, a professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Yale University, are now removed from the curriculum entirely.

Actually, I would have had them remove even more.

Gov. DeSantis reminded College Board that they had no power or influence in the matter of curricula approval:

‘So this College Board, nobody elected them to anything. They’re just kind of there and provide this service, and you can utilize those services or not,’ DeSantis said when asked to comment on the College Board’s statement over the weekend that the Florida Department of Education had slandered it. ‘They provided these AP courses for a long time but there are probably some other vendors able to do their job as good and maybe a lot better.’

Oops.

Students take AP courses because they think they give them an advantage in college admissions. The state also pays students’ exam fees and provides bonuses to teachers whose students pass those tests.

It’s unclear if other organizations offer AP classes, but I expect they will be established quickly, since Florida will likely not be the only state to reject the College Board courses (and there are 38, plus the SAT). And College Board doesn’t have a monopoly on AP curricula.

I expect a few heads might roll.

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  1. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    If not insanity, then what? Stupidity? Do you think it makes a difference? If you’re continually outvoted, and there’s no legal way to stop it, what other option do you really have? If a lot of people think an economy can run on serving Starbucks to each other, hanging around isn’t going to change what passes for their minds.

    Not insanity and not stupidity, even though we use such labels. It’s more about conflicting interests and values.

    And by conflicting interests, I mean it in the sense that the ruling class has as its foremost interest the maintenance of its socio-economic position at the top of the heap, while the rest of us have other interests that conflict with that. It isn’t just that, but it’s an example.

    There won’t be a heap to be at the top of, if they keep it up.

    Even if we revert to the economic level of Europe 4000 ago, there will still be heaps. If we go back 6000 years they might be harder to detect.

    Heaps of s**t for sure, but I don’t think Klaus Schwab would enjoy living like that, even if he is at the top of it.

    The thing is, there would still be conflicting interests of rulers vs the people. You have to go back to a very “primitive,” egalitarian society to get away from that entirely.

    But my point is I don’t see how Klaus Schwab and the others who supposedly want to “reduce the surplus population” and do away with most technology etc, would do well for themselves living in the world they supposedly wish to create.  Even being at the top of the/a heap in that world, would be lower than they are now.

    • #61
  2. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    If not insanity, then what? Stupidity? Do you think it makes a difference? If you’re continually outvoted, and there’s no legal way to stop it, what other option do you really have? If a lot of people think an economy can run on serving Starbucks to each other, hanging around isn’t going to change what passes for their minds.

    Not insanity and not stupidity, even though we use such labels. It’s more about conflicting interests and values.

    And by conflicting interests, I mean it in the sense that the ruling class has as its foremost interest the maintenance of its socio-economic position at the top of the heap, while the rest of us have other interests that conflict with that. It isn’t just that, but it’s an example.

    There won’t be a heap to be at the top of, if they keep it up.

    Even if we revert to the economic level of Europe 4000 ago, there will still be heaps. If we go back 6000 years they might be harder to detect.

    Heaps of s**t for sure, but I don’t think Klaus Schwab would enjoy living like that, even if he is at the top of it.

    The thing is, there would still be conflicting interests of rulers vs the people. You have to go back to a very “primitive,” egalitarian society to get away from that entirely.

    But my point is I don’t see how Klaus Schwab and the others who supposedly want to “reduce the surplus population” and do away with most technology etc, would do well for themselves living in the world they supposedly wish to create. Even being at the top of the/a heap in that world, would be lower than they are now.

    If you’ve ever known a human or two, you know which is most important.   (Actually, the priority varies somewhat depending on whether people are at a subsistence/starvation level or above.) 

     

    • #62
  3. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    If not insanity, then what? Stupidity? Do you think it makes a difference? If you’re continually outvoted, and there’s no legal way to stop it, what other option do you really have? If a lot of people think an economy can run on serving Starbucks to each other, hanging around isn’t going to change what passes for their minds.

    Not insanity and not stupidity, even though we use such labels. It’s more about conflicting interests and values.

    And by conflicting interests, I mean it in the sense that the ruling class has as its foremost interest the maintenance of its socio-economic position at the top of the heap, while the rest of us have other interests that conflict with that. It isn’t just that, but it’s an example.

    There won’t be a heap to be at the top of, if they keep it up.

    Even if we revert to the economic level of Europe 4000 ago, there will still be heaps. If we go back 6000 years they might be harder to detect.

    Heaps of s**t for sure, but I don’t think Klaus Schwab would enjoy living like that, even if he is at the top of it.

    The thing is, there would still be conflicting interests of rulers vs the people. You have to go back to a very “primitive,” egalitarian society to get away from that entirely.

    But my point is I don’t see how Klaus Schwab and the others who supposedly want to “reduce the surplus population” and do away with most technology etc, would do well for themselves living in the world they supposedly wish to create. Even being at the top of the/a heap in that world, would be lower than they are now.

    If you’ve ever known a human or two, you know which is most important. (Actually, the priority varies somewhat depending on whether people are at a subsistence/starvation level or above.)

     

    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    Still not quite 100 years ago, President Calvin Coolidge’s son died from an infected blister he got while playing tennis on the White House lawn.

    • #63
  4. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Also, listen to Retromingent GLoP, 4/17/21.

    • #64
  5. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes.  If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.  

    • #65
  6. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Anyone who’d prefer to be Conan The Barbarian rather than a typical suburban schlub today, is just beyond help.

    It’s factually correct that life in the past even not that long ago was “nasty, brutish, and short.”

    • #66
  7. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Anyone who’d prefer to be Conan The Barbarian rather than a typical suburban schlub today, is just beyond help.

    Whether or not you can help them makes little difference to the preferences people have. 

    It’s factually correct that life in the past even not that long ago was “nasty, brutish, and short.”

    Some people would prefer that to “typical suburban schlub” and make choices accordingly.  Why do you think so many males in Russia have drunk themselves to death?  

    • #67
  8. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Anyone who’d prefer to be Conan The Barbarian rather than a typical suburban schlub today, is just beyond help.

    Whether or not you can help them makes little difference to the preferences people have.

    It’s factually correct that life in the past even not that long ago was “nasty, brutish, and short.”

    Some people would prefer that to “typical suburban schlub” and make choices accordingly. Why do you think so many males in Russia have drunk themselves to death?

    Maybe because of the females in Russia?

    Ask those people who think they’d enjoy being Conan The Barbarian, if they’ve had any dental work done, etc etc, and then ask them how much they’d enjoy NOT having had any of that.  Would they enjoy feeling those broken teeth etc, for another 30-40-50 years, or maybe getting them yanked out with some kind of pliers at best, or maybe dying from the infections before that even happened?

    Heck, even Zefram Cochrane probably wound up regretting his decision to stay with The Companion.

    Sure, they both look great at the end of the episode, but she/it can’t keep either of them young any more.

    “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!  EVER!!!”

    (Hi, @jameslileks !)

    • #68
  9. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Maybe because of the females in Russia?

    Hardly, except perhaps in the sense that traditional male roles were not available for a long time, and the new ways got to be habit-forming.

    Ask those people who think they’d enjoy being Conan The Barbarian, if they’ve had any dental work done, etc etc, and then ask them how much they’d enjoy NOT having had any of that.  Would they enjoy feeling those broken teeth etc, for another 30-40-50 years, or maybe getting them yanked out with some kind of pliers at best, or maybe dying from the infections before that even happened?

    I somehow doubt a lot of time is spent thinking about that. 

    But this conversation is reminding me that I still haven’t seen the 1960s Finnish version of the film Not by Bread Alone (Не хлебом единым).  I have seen the 2005 Russian version, but it might have been more superficial.   Both were based on a 1950s Russian novel of the same title.   The phrase is taken from the Biblical phrase, “Man cannot live by bread alone…”  The film was about an inventor’s conflicts with the Soviet bureaucracy and the point is, some people find there are things more important than a comfortable life with plenty of food to eat. And we’re talking here about Soviet levels of comfort and food.  The book was a departure from the socialist realism of the time.

    One could also say, “Man cannot live by dental care alone and stay sane.”

    I have had crooked teeth since childhood.  My parents simply could not afford the recommended straightening that was available when I was little.  Well, perhaps they could have, but then we wouldn’t have been able to afford the three week travel vacations we took out west each year.  I’m grateful that they made the choice they did. 

    One person told me, “Parents shouldn’t have to make choices like that.”  My thought is, who better to make that choice than parents? 

    Heck, even Zefram Cochrane probably wound up regretting his decision to stay with The Companion.

    Sure, they both look great at the end of the episode, but she/it can’t keep either of them young any more.

    “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!  EVER!!!”

    (Hi, @jameslileks !)

    I don’t know what you’re talking about here, but it sounds like a movie, i.e. fiction. 

    • #69
  10. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Maybe because of the females in Russia?

    Hardly, except perhaps in the sense that traditional male roles were not available for a long time, and the new ways got to be habit-forming.

    Ask those people who think they’d enjoy being Conan The Barbarian, if they’ve had any dental work done, etc etc, and then ask them how much they’d enjoy NOT having had any of that. Would they enjoy feeling those broken teeth etc, for another 30-40-50 years, or maybe getting them yanked out with some kind of pliers at best, or maybe dying from the infections before that even happened?

    I somehow doubt a lot of time is spent thinking about that.

    But this conversation is reminding me that I still haven’t seen the 1960s Finnish version of the film Not by Bread Alone (Не хлебом единым). I have seen the 2005 Russian version, but it might have been more superficial. Both were based on a 1950s Russian novel of the same title. The phrase is taken from the Biblical phrase, “Man cannot live by bread alone…” The film was about an inventor’s conflicts with the Soviet bureaucracy and the point is, some people find there are things more important than a comfortable life with plenty of food to eat. And we’re talking here about Soviet levels of comfort and food. The book was a departure from the socialist realism of the time.

    One could also say, “Man cannot live by dental care alone and stay sane.”

    I have had crooked teeth since childhood. My parents simply could not afford the recommended straightening that was available when I was little. Well, perhaps they could have, but then we wouldn’t have been able to afford the three week travel vacations we took out west each year. I’m grateful that they made the choice they did.

    One person told me, “Parents shouldn’t have to make choices like that.” My thought is, who better to make that choice than parents?

    Heck, even Zefram Cochrane probably wound up regretting his decision to stay with The Companion.

    Sure, they both look great at the end of the episode, but she/it can’t keep either of them young any more.

    “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! EVER!!!”

    (Hi, @ jameslileks !)

    I don’t know what you’re talking about here, but it sounds like a movie, i.e. fiction.

    Crooked teeth may not look good, but they aren’t automatically painful, infected, etc.

    • #70
  11. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    kedavis (View Comment):
    Crooked teeth may not look good, but they aren’t automatically painful, infected, etc.

    Nope. They’re a little harder to keep clean, though. 

    • #71
  12. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Yes but Klaus Schwab and the current technocratic elite that are trying so hard to reestablish the feudal system are not going to be they ones “driving their enemies before them”.  They don’t appear to understand that.  They are in point of fact the ones that are going to be “driven and have their women (or men as the case may be) lament”.   This is the unique place we find ourselves in.   The technocratic elite is trying to build a world where they will be supplanted.   The men who will wind up at the top of the heap will have an entirely different sort of skill set and set of values then the technocrats.  

    • #72
  13. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Yes but Klaus Schwab and the current technocratic elite that are trying so hard to reestablish the feudal system are not going to be they ones “driving their enemies before them”. They don’t appear to understand that. They are in point of fact the ones that are going to be “driven and have their women (or men as the case may be) lament”. This is the unique place we find ourselves in. The technocratic elite is trying to build a world where they will be supplanted. The men who will wind up at the top of the heap will have an entirely different sort of skill set and set of values then the technocrats.

    Yes, because technocrat skills aren’t very useful in the kind of low-tech world they seem to think they want.

    Klaus Schwab is not going to be “The Duke of New York, A-Number-One!”

    I suspect Klaus Schwab couldn’t even be “Brain” although he probably thinks he deserves Adrienne Barbeau.

    • #73
  14. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Yes but Klaus Schwab and the current technocratic elite that are trying so hard to reestablish the feudal system are not going to be they ones “driving their enemies before them”. They don’t appear to understand that. They are in point of fact the ones that are going to be “driven and have their women (or men as the case may be) lament”. This is the unique place we find ourselves in. The technocratic elite is trying to build a world where they will be supplanted. The men who will wind up at the top of the heap will have an entirely different sort of skill set and set of values then the technocrats.

    Yes, because technocrat skills aren’t very useful in the kind of low-tech world they seem to think they want.

    Klaus Schwab is not going to be “The Duke of New York, A-Number-One!”

    It’s a King of the Mountain delusion. Not that they cannot be “King” but that the game then stops and they get to be King forever. Ceaușescu that he could be. Ceaușescu thought wrong.

    • #74
  15. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Yes but Klaus Schwab and the current technocratic elite that are trying so hard to reestablish the feudal system are not going to be they ones “driving their enemies before them”. They don’t appear to understand that. They are in point of fact the ones that are going to be “driven and have their women (or men as the case may be) lament”. This is the unique place we find ourselves in. The technocratic elite is trying to build a world where they will be supplanted. The men who will wind up at the top of the heap will have an entirely different sort of skill set and set of values then the technocrats.

    Note to Mr. Schwab: how well paid is your chief of security? What’s his home life like? Ever catch him reading Machiavelli during his lunch breaks?

    • #75
  16. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    Rodin (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Raxxalan (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):
    I understand that most people have an IQ of 100 or less, by definition, but I don’t know if you have to be terribly smart to understand that most people today – at least in the US – live much better than even royalty did in the not-too-distant past.

    If you define “living better” in terms of material goods and services, yes. If you define living better as “driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of their women,” then no.

    Yes but Klaus Schwab and the current technocratic elite that are trying so hard to reestablish the feudal system are not going to be they ones “driving their enemies before them”. They don’t appear to understand that. They are in point of fact the ones that are going to be “driven and have their women (or men as the case may be) lament”. This is the unique place we find ourselves in. The technocratic elite is trying to build a world where they will be supplanted. The men who will wind up at the top of the heap will have an entirely different sort of skill set and set of values then the technocrats.

    Yes, because technocrat skills aren’t very useful in the kind of low-tech world they seem to think they want.

    Klaus Schwab is not going to be “The Duke of New York, A-Number-One!”

    It’s a King of the Mountain delusion. Not that they cannot be “King” but that the game then stops and they get to be King forever. Ceaușescu that he could be. Ceaușescu thought wrong.

    Ceausescu had a certain amount of ruthlessness that Schwab hasn’t proven he has.  I find it hard to believe people obsessed with not misgendering someone or microaggressions has what it takes to be an actual evil overlord.   Don’t get me wrong Schwab looks the part and has the ideas of an evil overlord.  It just seems like cosplay to me rather than actual capability 

    • #76
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