Child Abuse

Asking a child to sit in one of these infernal contraptions for six hours a day, five days a week, ten months out of the year, for 12 years, is child abuse.  I don't care how you arrange the desks--groups, circles, whatever, each child is still confined to a constricted amount of space amounting to approximately one cubic meter for a significant part of his/her childhood.  

"Oh, it's not that bad", you might say.  With the right teacher who knows how to "engage the children" it can be quite fun to sit in a chair all day.

But thanks to the special glasses I received while in the Rubber Room, when you see this...

I see this instead.

The World Will Never Look The Same Again

"They Live" Written and Directed by John Carpenter

I came out of the Rubber Room a different person.  It has taken a while for me to get to know that person.  The world will never look the same to me again.

Torture

The Rubber Room is a form of torture.

Because there is no physical pain,--Actually, there IS physical pain, so let me begin again.  Because there is no physical pain comparable to the many horrors that people have been subjected to throughout the ages, you might think that this is an outrageous exaggeration, but it is not.

There are many forms of torture.  The Rubber Room and the workplace mobbing that precedes it might be on the low end of the scale compared to processes like the one in this picture, but they result from the same cause and serve the same end.

The cause is that a social hierarchy is in trouble.  The people who are on top are getting worried that they can't maintain their position, so they start terrorizing the people at the bottom--and if they become really worried, they attack the people in the middle as well.  The more torture you find in a society, the less secure the power structure is.  That is of little comfort to the people who are being tortured.

The Rubber Room opened my eyes to the many forms of torture used in this society to keep people in line.  The prison system is an important part of it.  So is war.

After reading the latest posts on South Bronx School, I am sad to see that torture continues to be the preferred method of controlling teachers and children in the New York City Department of Education.

The King is Dead, Long Live The... ?

Yes, Bloomberg, the man who assassinated (notice the two asses) my career and the careers of hundreds if not thousands of teachers, will not be Emperor/King/CEO/Dictator/Fuhrur/Tyrant of New York much longer.  I would be more hopeful that NYC politics would move toward more democratic principles--but that's the HOPE FOR CHANGE I had when Obama was elected. It didn't happen.

One man does not make a Democracy--but a few very rich and powerful men, can destroy one.

Now, what about Principal Sh _ _ _ _    T _ _ _ y?   Will the principal who lied and got children to lie for her be fired?  Or will the new mayor recognize the advantages of having loyal slaves who do as they are bid, no questions asked.  I'm taking illegal bets.

And yes, I am back.  How could I resist contributing to the METTADATA at a transitional moment such as this?