Monday, September 17, 2007

If You Have The Children, You Have The Future

Venezuelan dictator-for-life Hugo Chavez is pulling the usual dictator stunt:

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez threatened on Monday to take over any private schools refusing to submit to the oversight of his socialist government, a move some Venezuelans fear will impose leftist ideology in the classroom.

All Venezuelan schools, both public and private, must submit to state inspectors enforcing the new educational system. Those that refuse will be closed and nationalized, Chavez said...
But one college-level syllabus obtained by The Associated Press shows some premedical students already have a recommended reading list including Karl Marx's "Das Kapital" and Fidel Castro's speeches, alongside traditional subjects like biology and chemistry.

The syllabus also includes quotations from Chavez and urges students to learn about slain revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Colombian rebel chief Manuel Marulanda, whose leftist guerrillas are considered a terrorist group by Colombia, the U.S. and European Union...

"If they attack us because we're indoctrinating, well yes, we're doing it, because those capitalist ideas that our young people have — and that have done so much damage to our people — must be eliminated," (government education official) Campos said.

I paraphrased the title quote. Who is credited with saying it?

My absolute favorite quote, though, was this one:

But Adan Chavez said the goal is to develop "critical thinking," not to impose a single philosophy.
I'm sure Orwell would enjoy Comrade Chavez.

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