Comments on: The Irony Is Rusting

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:33:11 +0000

The “hoist on your own petard” moment, when you are shocked to find your children have been paying attention to you. It’s a bit unsettling for parents, especially when they find themselves in the position of “management”.

That was his cousin, Edward Bellamy, Jams, the entire family was a group of radicals and trouble makers. 😉

By: jams O'Donnell

jams O'Donnell — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 09:45:34 +0000

Francism Bellamy, didn't he write Looking Backwards? A period piece but still a book worth reading today So a committed socialist wrote the pledge of alleigance. I am tickeld pink.. or should that be red! .-= last blog ..Ziggy Stardust and the spider from Malaysia =-.

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 07:24:33 +0000

I’m sure your job action led to some interesting parent-teacher conferences.

i don’t think it did ackshully. our parents had long been political organizers at that point and were [albeit a bit grudgingly] impressed with our nascent mad organizing skillz. i’m pretty sure we negotiated a fair increase and not an extortionate one.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:53:47 +0000

Everyone knows that teachers are a bunch of socialists, after all they are about the only group down here who belong to unions.

I’m sure your job action led to some interesting parent-teacher conferences.

Time to crash after putting out more kibble.

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:46:38 +0000

well, at least doing things your way they could taser the teacher as well as the kids.

yeah, some of those teachers can be dangerous. i can’t remember which class or which teacher it was, but i can remember that it was the inspiration for us kids to form our own labor union and strike for either higher allowances or higher pay for mowing the lawn [i forget which it was, and it may have been that both options were on the table: we’ll take either higher allowances or more pay for the lawn, but it’s got to be one or the other]

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:34:57 +0000

OTOH, if you were “invisible” you didn’t have to act like you cared about this useless ritual, but the country and the flag were both very not “invisible” so why were we pretending they were.

I would hate to be an elementary school teacher. Of course, I wouldn’t be one for long, perhaps a week, before I explained that we had to do something because the idiots who ran things demanded it, but if we picked up our torches and pitchforks and mobbed the state legislature, it would stop.

I don’t think they would buy “an historic reenactment of the Children’s Crusade” as a valid excuse for arming children and attacking public buildings.

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:19:44 +0000

yeah, i can remember wondering why it was so important to be invisible.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 05:04:09 +0000

The Mohawk River Valley of upstate New York was a hot bed of liberals, progressives, and whackos in the 19th century.

It’s where the Mormon church was founded, where Susan B. Anthony began rabble rousing, where Frederick Douglas had his newspaper, all kinds of things were going on, and Christian Socialism was one of them.

I would point out that expecting the early grades to pronounce or understand “indivisible” is like trying to teach a pig to sing.

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:37:18 +0000

i didn't realize the pledge was originally written by a socialist! i feel much more kindly toward it now. not being much in favor of authoritarian anything as a kid, i usually just stood there and refused to pledge allegiance to anything, though sometimes i'd go along, skipping only the 'under god' part. i do wish loldogs had been around back then, this is a pledge i would have been happy to recite.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:09:20 +0000

In the Panhandle, every day I was in the county school system the day started with the pledge and the Lord’s prayer, which was a mess because there were military brats in the class and the Jewish kids didn’t know it, and the Catholics cut out before the end. It was stupid and meaningless.

Some smartass little kid pointed out that the instructions in the Gospels was to do this in private. This same kid threw a conniption when they injected “under G-d” in the third grade. Mrs. Edwins, the principle of elementary education, was thrilled when my Father was transferred. They had apparently never encountered a child who would read the rule book and call them on deviations.