
Seattle School Board votes to keep 'Brave New World' on curriculum - aaronbrethorst
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013631328_bravenewworld09.html
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forgotAgain
_The Seattle School Board voted Wednesday to keep Brave New World on the
district’s list of approved books for high-school language-arts classes._

 _Nathan Hale administrators dropped the book as a regular part of its
sophomore Language Arts curriculum after Sense-Wilson’s initial complaint,
however students can still read it as part of class “literature circles” in
which students reading the same book discuss it in a small group._

Reading the above it appears that the book hasn't been returned to the high
school's curriculum. The school board merely said it could be. Judging from
the school administration's initial actions I would say return to the core
curriculim is still in question.

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Locke1689
School curricula aren't completely constant in a state. It sounds like the
book is no longer required reading in that specific high school in Seattle,
not all high schools in Seattle.

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hartror
I hate PC revisionists. This is a book from the 1930s and as such there are
aspects of the book that don't reflect the mores of today's society. However
this will be obvious to its high school student readers and don't need to be
"protected" from this sort of material as they're old enough to place it in
context.

An example of where the line I think gets blurry is the Golliwoggs from Enid
Blyton's Noddy which were removed in the 1980s. I don't know if there is any
evidence for or against negative racial stereotypes affecting children's long
term views but I won't be exposing my kids to such material.

I would hate to have my small child point to a dark skinned person on the
street and say "Golliwogg!" for a start.

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pinchyfingers
Every American should be reading this book. Huxley is very accurately
describing modern America. A stoned populace to caught up in the distractions
of commercialism and instant gratification to be aware of their complete lack
of self-determination and complete dependence on the state.

I don't want to go off of some crazy libertarian rant, but really, take a
couple hours to reread this book, and then take a fresh look at the world of
distraction all around you.

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TheBlack_knight
I resist the comparisons between accent Rome and our current culture, but
sometimes the insights are intuitive.

… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have
abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military
command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and
anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses

Once a society becomes advanced many comforts become available, it seems to
happen that we forgot just how it is we got there. There is an economic theory
that goes something like, every generation or two needs a great war so that
those who survive come back home with a sense of purpose. And those
individuals work to advance society. The next generation perhaps becomes more
immersed in the culture and uninterested in advancing knowledge or economic
gains. Stagnation sets in again.

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anigbrowl
Well, that is a ray of sunshine on a gloomy day. Thanks for keeping an eye on
the story.

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VladRussian
what is wrong with exposing school students to the fact that a great author in
his great book used stereotypes which are prohibited today? What is next?
Removal of mentioning of racism from the history curriculum ? Looks like
building of BNW step by step.

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nhangen
A book like this has never been more important. Would love to see schools wake
up and embrace something like this, and perhaps Atlas Shrugged or the
Fountainhead, among other philosophical masterpieces.

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avdempsey
Agreed about Huxley. Neil Postman covers many of the same themes in his non-
fiction work. Technopoly in particular is a good read.

Atlas Shrugged is _not_ a message I think our age is lacking however. I
enjoyed it as a kid, but it's pretty clear capitalism and selfishness are
enjoying the commanding heights. It's status as a philosophical
masterpiece...that's the easiest way to troll a philosophy major.

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xenophanes
As a Rand fan, let me tell you: the world is not Randian. The overwhelming
majority of the "capitalists" of today are not the kind I or Rand would
approve it. We'd be more inclined to call them socialists than to say they are
in accord with Rand's message.

If you think Rand's message is widespread then you simply have not understood
it. For example Rand is sometimes accused of supporting big business. Maybe
you have that misconception and think all the big businesses and their
supporters are Randians. This is extremely false. Rand was very clear about
how she hated many types of businessmen, and a lot of the bad guys in her
books were big businessmen.

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jmillikin
Of all currently existing nations, which do you think best represents Randian
ideals?

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xenophanes
USA I suppose. But I haven't really researched Hong Kong or a few other
smaller countries I've heard are good in terms of free market.

It's easy to complain about the US, and plenty of the complaints are true, but
that doesn't mean the US isn't the greatest country of all time. And the US is
getting better not worse -- for example if you read about the history of the
railroads the amount of Government corruption and unethical business practices
100 years ago is really quite amazing and shows how far we've come. And if you
go back another 100 years, then the UK was the best country, but it was really
really really bad compared to the modern world -- it's hard to express how bad
it was in any short statement. Gay sex was punished by hanging, there was
slavery, women were property of their husbands (not 100% property, but ugh),
racism was the norm, and being rich and powerful was usually about political
power and achieved by methods like land grants from the Government as favors
for military service; there may be quite a few bad businesses today and people
rich due to crime or Government favors, but we have cut down on that stuff,
and also we have far more people who earned their money as entrepreneurs, far
more middle class, etc

