“The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.” –Marx

If you think Marxist ideas have not permeated your child’s classroom, you are probably not paying attention.

Below is an exchange with my daughter’s social(ist) studies teacher. I must admit, her honesty regarding her ideological orientation was refreshing. I find most professional bureaucrats to be annoyingly evasive even when you have them utterly pinned. The names herein, except mine, have been removed. I do not “dox” which seems to be the modus operandi of leftists these days. I suppose, in their minds, the perceived righteousness of their position demands that those who oppose them be punished. On the other hand, I believe everyone, including communists, should be free to express their views without fear of personal intimidation.

Sent: Monday, February 1, 2021 3:31 PM
To:troyjgrice
Subject: 7th Grade Social Studies Unit 

Good afternoon,

Last week, our 7th grade students began a civics unit in their social studies class. This unit delves into the overarching understandings that  1. Governments are based on ideas about political institutions and experiences related to power and authority. 2. How do beliefs about power and authority impact society? Given the current events in our own nation, this unit provides relatable opportunities for students to explore, discuss, and debate concepts like equality, social justice, racism, and citizenship. 

The attached pdf outlines the Jeffco curriculum, content standards, and resources for families. This unit will provide opportunities for families to continue these powerful discussions at home. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact…

Thank you for working with us.

Government

Below are the links cited on the school district PDF. Notice how everything is about race identity?

…Everything.

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really
https://www.tolerance.org/learning-plan/talking-about-white-privilege
https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack
https://nearpod.com/t/social-studies/8th/hpl-black-lives-matter-L52812592
https://www.activelylearn.com/
https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/check-yourself-why-self-reflecting-privilege-matters-rebecca-alber?utm_source=twitter
&utm_medium=socialflow

The inescapable inference to be made from reading the materials above is that our system– presumably our private property-based, republican, sovereign individual promoting system– is not adversely affected by issues of racism, per se, but rather the entire system itself is intrinsically racist– in other words, the system is irredeemable and must be destroyed.

The first step in this process of tearing down the established order is to bifurcate the populace into two discreet classes: one for “victims” and one for “oppressors”. Then set them upon each other and watch the entire system burn. Forget unity. That’s just a buzzword to be used to sedate the semi-lucid members of the “oppressor class”.

George Carlin talked of fascism coming to America “wearing Nike shoes and smiley face shirts.” Turns out he wasn’t far off, it’s just that it has come as wealthy white Marxists with iphones and nose rings hijacking a legitimate movement (BLM is actually a stated Marxist movement) attempting to bring attention to the unaccountable, lunatic, government edict enforcers who murder people (of all races, btw).

This burning of cities during “mostly peaceful” protests, this tearing down of statues and banning of flags, this chastising people for wearing unapproved ballcaps, this outright censoring and lying and doxing of anyone who opposes their view, this categorizing of anything that is outside of the realm of leftist grievance-think as “racism,” this is the manifestation of deeply Marxist thinking known to students of ideology as critical theory.

Bolshevism, American style.

After reading the email and after finding the lack of materials promoting actual “civics,” as I understand the term, I replied:

Thank you,

When I think about “civics,” I think about the principles of government and their application to society. Several topics come immediately to my mind in addition to the ones you mentioned. For instance, what is the proper role of the federal government, especially in regards to the enumerated powers outlined by the Constitution? In this civics unit, will the Constitution be discussed in terms of its intent or will it be portrayed as a foundationless “living document”? Will the students be exposed to the concept of checks and balances and the roles of the three branches of government? will they be asked if America is a republic or a democracy? Will students learn the difference? Will they be challenged to consider the tradeoffs between personal freedom and government coercion? Will the universal failure of government to solve societal ills be explored? Will students learn how government is run by fallible, self-interested careerists and how activist government is prone to overreaction, unfairness, and violent error? Will students learn about civil liberties and their unalienable rights as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights? Will there be discourse on the concepts of the right of free speech, assembly, self-defense, privacy, trial by jury, or pursuit of happiness? Will there be any discussion regarding the mutual exclusivity between “equality of outcome” versus “equality of opportunity”? Will the root governmental causes of racial inequality and systemic racism be examined, or will those manifestations of injustice be blamed entirely on people acting freely? Communism and national socialism promised equity and social justice. Will the horrors of those unleashed systems be examined? Will students be exposed to the notion that the road to hell is paved with good intentions?

Certainly, terms like “equity,” “social justice,” and “progressive” invoke high-minded ideals in fresh minds. But those terms are also specific concepts of ideological thinking that also promote class warfare, identity politics, internationalism, and outright hostility toward property rights, self-defense, free speech, free association, and the notion of individual sovereignty. Will there be any balance in this unit, or will this just be superficial indoctrination?

Troy

To my surprise, and to her credit, my daughter’s teacher responded.

Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: 7th Grade Social Studies Unit 

Good Evening,

In relation to the majority of your question, U.S. history is covered in eight grade, when many of those topics will be explored.
In regards to the questions related to my curriculum, please see below.
We studied equity and equality on 1/25 and 1/26 last week. 
We started studying “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” regarding systemic racism end of last week and the beginning of this week. Please refer to Peggy McIntosh‘s seminal work on privilege which dovetails with Kimberle Crenshaw’s study of intersectionality. 
We will study the real world realities of systemic racism through the global Black Lives Matter movement this week and do a comparative study with Apartheid and the Arab Spring in the weeks to come. 

Our next unit is on Economics in which we will dive into a variety of economic systems including a comparative study of Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. 
In regard to the terms referred to, as a philosophy major and student of critical studies I can assure you that within the scope of Jeffco values of equity and diversity among others, we will cover a broad range of topics and practice perspective taking in our work. Conceptual analysis is a fundamental undertaking. Please let me know if you would like to setup a conference or discuss any other questions.

I can only imagine how “capitalism” will be portrayed as some imperialist vehicle, concocted by balding white men with handlebar mustaches and wearing monocles, to promote white supremacy, or how socialism’s irrepresible and inevitable march towards blunt, violent authoritarianism will be utterly and completely ignored (for evidence, one need only observe the democratic socialist governors manifest their authoritarian impulses through their atrociously destructive and utterly useless lockdown edicts during covid… and how the hordes of white, leftist, “useful idiots” cheered the government insanity on in order to score community virtue-signal silver stars).

The tête-à-tête continued…

On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 6:50 PM Troy Grice <troyjgrice@hotmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for your reply. 

I too have a degree, mine being in economics. And I am a 25 year-long student of ideology and history with much exposure to philosophy. I won’t quibble with you, as a libertarian, I start with the simplifying assumption that most public school teachers are essentially neo-Marxist in their thinking. It’s been my experience that teachers today almost universally promote “critical theory,” “post modernism,” and other collectivist concepts that are hostile towards individual sovereignty and Western Civilization. I understand political economy quite well, and I’ve come to regard any ideology that relies on government violence to achieve some politician’s inarticulable definition of “equality” as ill-conceived, and immoral. But I look forward to hearing what my daughter learns in your class. Perhaps I will be proven wrong.
Troy

To which, my daughter’s instructor concluded:

As a student (undergrad) of analytic philosophy I found the narrative of the philosophical tradition limiting in terms of the empiricists. In grad school I was steeped in the continental traditions which offered a counter-narrative to dominant narratives. It is this same experience I hope my students will take away from my class, not the ideologies, but the very feeling of critical consciousness and critical thought (both bi-products of critical theory). I would argue that  ideological boxes are fluid and the human experience cannot be essentialized, I want my students to grapple with hard concepts just like I did and continue to do. My pedagogy is based on culturally responsive pedagogy so my hope is that students use a critical lens of analysis to categorize or un-categorize the world around them.
In the libertarian tradition, I hope students will feel safe within the classroom to have honest conversations about big ideas and essential questions. I do hope you will give the curriculum a chance to help ignite the flames of curiosity and a meaningful pursuit of one’s education. 

So there it is. The full monty.

What’s distressing to me is not that my daughter is exposed to collectivist thinking, it’s that there will certainly be no balance in the presentation whatsoever. I would lay any odds that there will be no reference to the bounty that our capitalistic system provides and how self interest, free markets, and the right to pursue property has bestowed on the people of this country tremendous prosperity, minorities included. Not even the most ardent communist can refute the disparity in wealth between capitalistic and communistic economies.

No, if any mention of capitalism’s prosperity is made at all, it will be in the context that its wealth is the byproduct of exploitation. This is refutable as utter nonsense when you compare the living standards of countries with no property rights to those that have them. Or if not convinced by that, compare which countries win the immigration test. In other words, which countries attract people people and which countries repel them. If America is so terrible to non-whites, why do so many insist on risking their lives to come here? Ever check the net migration between the U.S. and Latin America? Between the U.S. and Africa? To and from Asia? The only people who leave the U.S., despite its alleged atrocious treatment of non-cis-whites, are retirees looking for a lower cost of living. How is that possible?

No, I’m afraid no critical thought analysis will be presented at all. There will be no talk of liberty, self-determination, or personal responsibility. There will be no mention of the possible root causes of inequality being fomented by government action. There will be no mention that the abolition of the scourge of slavery is exclusive to Western Civilization. It will instead go as all leftist seminars go. The victims and the oppressors will be identified and set at odds, and the only solution presented will be the application of more government force to resolve the dispute.

Welcome to the revolution… American style.