This is crazy: the U.S. house of representatives just overwhelmingly passed a law that mandates the teaching of anti-communism and anti-China propaganda to U.S. school kids.
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1866305695240601876
This is crazy: the U.S. house of representatives just overwhelmingly passed a law that mandates the teaching of anti-communism and anti-China propaganda to U.S. school kids.
Even more insane, the curriculum will be based on educational material prepared by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOCMF, victimsofcommunism.org/house-of-repre), an anticommunist propaganda shop founded by an act of congress.
VOCFM is so extreme in their views that to them, all Nazis killed by Soviets are "victims of communism", as are all deaths resulting from Covid-19 (hamptonthink.org/read/red-scare). Check for instance one of their recent X postings (x.com/VoCommunism/st, screenshot below 
) in which they exhort people to "remember the victims" from when the Soviet army liberated Poland from the Nazis (including Auschwitz!) during the Vistula–Oder Offensive 
The new law that just passed, the "Crucial Communism Teaching Act" (text here: congress.gov/bill/118th-con), mandates that "high school students in the United States learn that communism has led to the deaths of over 100,000,000 victims worldwide", which is the same tally as that of VOCMF (and in fact the law specifically says that it is that VOCMF that shall develop the curriculum).
The new law also mandates that U.S. school kids be "taught" all the usual anti-China propaganda talking points such as "the treatment of Uyghurs" (the so-called "Uyghur genocide" is, incidentally, also a narrative that originates from the VOCMF), the "actions taken by the PRC to deter pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong" or "the increasingly aggressive posture by the PRC toward Taiwan, a democratic friend of the United States".
The irony of course is that "communist China" has no equivalent law or curriculum: Chinese school kids aren't taught as part of their curriculum to hate capitalism or the U.S. In fact, China has even plenty of American international schools in almost all major cities in the country, which goes to illustrate that, contrary to common perceptions, China's educational approach toward the U.S. and its system shows much greater receptivity and balance than is currently being demonstrated in the reverse direction. And that's a massive understatement...
All in all, to take a step back, which approach is likely to educate more capable and discerning citizens? The one fostering genuine understanding through exposure to diverse perspectives, or the one imposing a rigid framework of ideological opposition? You draw your own conclusion...
) in which they exhort people to "remember the victims" from when the Soviet army liberated Poland from the Nazis (including Auschwitz!) during the Vistula–Oder Offensive
The new law that just passed, the "Crucial Communism Teaching Act" (text here: congress.gov/bill/118th-con), mandates that "high school students in the United States learn that communism has led to the deaths of over 100,000,000 victims worldwide", which is the same tally as that of VOCMF (and in fact the law specifically says that it is that VOCMF that shall develop the curriculum).
The new law also mandates that U.S. school kids be "taught" all the usual anti-China propaganda talking points such as "the treatment of Uyghurs" (the so-called "Uyghur genocide" is, incidentally, also a narrative that originates from the VOCMF), the "actions taken by the PRC to deter pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong" or "the increasingly aggressive posture by the PRC toward Taiwan, a democratic friend of the United States".
The irony of course is that "communist China" has no equivalent law or curriculum: Chinese school kids aren't taught as part of their curriculum to hate capitalism or the U.S. In fact, China has even plenty of American international schools in almost all major cities in the country, which goes to illustrate that, contrary to common perceptions, China's educational approach toward the U.S. and its system shows much greater receptivity and balance than is currently being demonstrated in the reverse direction. And that's a massive understatement...
All in all, to take a step back, which approach is likely to educate more capable and discerning citizens? The one fostering genuine understanding through exposure to diverse perspectives, or the one imposing a rigid framework of ideological opposition? You draw your own conclusion...
posted by Satish Sharma at
11:34
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