Braindead Shithead

Wow. I don't remember that being so choppy. Oh, and of course, they credited the wrong guy with the invention of radio. Tesla was awarded the patent posthumously. Which brings up how big of a dick Thomas Edison was. In order to sway public opinion that his direct current (DC) electricity distribution method was safer than Nikola Tesla's alternating current method, Edison invented the electric chair and arranged to have the first electrocution done publicly (with AC current of course). I believe he electrocuted elephants and other animals too at public displays he put on. Interesting too how they didn't count Eckert & Mauchly with the invention of the first general purpose digital computer. Maybe it had something to do with Mauchly getting caught up in the McCarthy witch hunts and being blacklisted as pro-commie (not even true). Then there's all those white people with the cotton gin and how slave labor was actually on the decline prior to Whitney's invention but thanks to the good old cotton gin there was a resurgence in the need for slave labor. So Eli Whitney actually helped prolong, and more firmly entrench, slavery in American culture.

I love Schoolhouse Rock, but man, we were fed such a bunch of bullshit in school.
 

So true. All I could think of during the clip was, "Yeah, a lot of this was done on the backs of slaves." During the "No More Kings" vid a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't stop thinking about Puritans and Indian massacre.

This was my point (or the point I was trying to make) in the "Don't Floss" post I did about the girl wanting to sing the anti-Bush song at the school talent show. I know we have to insulate kids somewhat against "the truth", but what is a healthy amount of protection and what is an outright lie? I can see both sides of the issues.

I really wish someone from the Education Carnival had commented because I'm curious to know how progressive/liberal educators handle this issue.
 

I don't know. I don't think we necessarily have to protect kids from the truth. I think they can handle it. If they can handle all the cultural baggage (like fairy tales and nursery rhymes and movies and TV) I'm positive they can handle that Thomas Edison was driven by greed and not generally a nice man or that the Puritans came here so they could persecute others like they had been persecuted at home (only more so).

So really I think it's a matter of managed complexity. How to introduce kids to the general flow of history without turning it into a Walt Disney movie and then gradually start fleshing it out. I loved the sense of belonging and celebration that I got as a little kid when we'd do things like celebrate Columbus Day or Thanksgiving by making our funny little hats and Indian head-dresses but it sure gave me some funny ideas about history and minority groups and American exceptionalism and empire.

There should be a middle ground where kids can grow up knowing our history, having an understanding and appreciation of the U.S. for better and worse while not ending up hating the country. Then again, based on my own anecdotal observations of kids today it seems like schools have opted for the third way. Just skip the history altogether. At least that's what it seems like the net effect is.