 Karl Marx |
Editor’s note: Michael Ackley’s columns may include satire and parody based on current events, and thus mix fact with fiction. He assumes informed readers will be able to tell which is which.
The Soviet Union is long gone. Fidel Castro is in his dotage. Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is a harmless clown. Therefore, international communism no longer is a threat, right?
How else can one explain Senate Bill 1322, which would delete language in the California law barring public school teachers from “teaching communism with the intent to indoctrinate or to inculcate in the mind of any pupil a preference for communism”?
The bill is the work of state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-the Los Angeles/Long Beach sprawl. Unlike many pieces of legislation, SB 1322 lacks a list of whereases and wherefores explaining and justifying the measure. Perhaps this is because the need for the bill is self-evident. Perhaps this is why the senator’s press guy didn’t return our call seeking elucidation.
Perhaps this is why Lowenthal was comfortable with deleting from state law such tired, Cold War verbiage as: “Within the boundaries of the State of California there are active disciplined communist organizations presently functioning for the primary purpose of advancing the objectives of the world communism movement, which organizations promulgate, advocate and adhere to the precepts of the principles and doctrines of the world communism movement.”
It’s possible the good Solon never heard of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. This offshoot of the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party has its West Coast headquarters in San Francisco and an office not too far from his district in Los Angeles. It has taken over WWP’s role in the so-called peace movement in the Golden State.
Lowenthal probably doesn’t know that PSL’s logo features a picture of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Castro’s executioner or that PSL’s website declares: “Revolutionary Marxism requires a revolutionary party to flourish and develop. Marxism is not an abstract doctrine but rather a guide to action.” He probably is unaware that PSL referred to last week’s action by Colombia to eliminate Marxist terrorist Raul Reyes as a “brutal bombing” and assassination.
This would explain why the legislator is comfortable in removing from the law the doctrinal statement that “one of the objectives of the world communism movement is to place its members in state and local government positions and in state-supported educational institutions. If this objective is successful, propaganda can be disseminated by the members of these organizations among pupils and students by those member who would have the opportunity to teach them and to whom, as teachers, they would look for guidance, authority and leadership.”
If the bill becomes law, California professors will be free to teach communism openly, instead of engaging in their current, more or less covert indoctrination. Who knows? Lowenthal may be preparing for a return to California State University, Long Beach, where he used to teach “community psychology,” a discipline that “focuses on advancing theory, research and social action to resolve contemporary social problems.” (He could go back to the classroom as early as next year if he isn’t elected to a second state Senate term in November.)
In any event, his SB 1322 is set for hearing March 26. Perhaps he will reveal his reasoning at that time.
Meanwhile, the bill is obscured by California’s overwhelming budget problems, with Democrats in the Legislature resolved that spending cuts are not the answer.
The Los Angeles Times quoted state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata on his solution: “Raise taxes. That clear enough? Raise taxes.”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan isn’t much better. He does call for spending cuts, but also borrowing and spending deferrals. Come to think of it, this has something of a “plain folks” cachet. What’s the solution for many families with too much debt? Borrow more!
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