do no harm:


idit dobb-weinstein: "teaching is action and thinking at once. What I try to guard against most when I teach is not speaking as if my answer were conclusive, so as to avoid (to the extent possible) any kind of dogmatic appropriation. It is understandable why students might wish to imitate their teachers, but there are different modes of imitation. I try very hard to avoid the mimetic appropriation that is immediate, passive, and occludes thinking. One other reason is that if I made clear what my views were, and my views appeared as if they were final, it would preclude the possibility of first, students challenging me and second, learning from my students. The relation between the student and teacher is, to me, a dynamic relationship . . . Teaching and learning is a movement that occurs between. In other words, we are at once both agent and patient, both teacher and learner. If we are not very careful, we can do a great deal of harm. And that, too, I have learned from my teachers, Maimonides especially.

I believe my task is to provoke students to think and to engage them in genuine dialogue and questioning. To paraphrase a rabbinic saying, 'I have learned from my teachers, and I have learned from my peers, but I have learned most from my students.' And that is a continuous process of learning."

Sunday 9 May 2010

socialists who support slaughterhouse labor exploitation and yet fight Arizona immigration reign of terror

questions for the socialism conference at LACC:

what is the perspective of the party for socialism and liberation on factory farming in america, especially in light of the meat luncheon at the conference?
you seem to care about the crisis in Arizona regarding immigration.
aren't slaughterhouses a huge locus of labor exploitation of immigrant workers?
why not boycott meat?
are there any similarities to scientology and or other religious groups, in terms of your educational programs?
what are the requirements for the six month training candidacy program, and is it paid?
do you follow labor law?
what percentage of the work done for your group is done by volunteers?
when you reference che guevara, are you endorsing violence? 
i heard he was a murderer.  is it is true?

read more about the people who hosted the conference here:
http://www.pslweb.org/site/PageServer

i  really appreciate the fact that women and men are involved in their leadership, and that they are anti-racist, and on some levels fight racist immigration policy.

but i am concerned about the support of slaughterhouses which rely on deportable "illegal" laborers who have a high injury rate.

in light of the scientology labor law scandal, http://www.scribd.com/doc/13912796/Complaint-Laura-A, or the nonprfit labor law violations that occur at mainsteam left fundraisers like telefund http://www.futuremajority.com/node/534 and the FUND and the PIRGS, it concerns me when ideological groups heavily staff their organization with unpaid peons so a few top togs can make off with bank.
just curious.

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