Seeking an old post

March 11, 2008 6:51 PM

Can anyone guide me to a post about USian education in which it was described how the POTUS met with business leaders to determine the course of public education in the U.S.? I think they were events that happened during or just after the industrial revolution.
posted by snsranch to MetaFilter-related at 6:51 PM (20 comments total)

I think the guy you're looking for is John Taylor Gatto. His Underground History of American Education focuses on the business origins of the public school system. He's posted it in full at his site. I couldn't find any posts, but he turns up in a bunch of comments.
posted by mediareport at 7:00 PM on March 11, 2008 [3 favorites]

Ha! Thank you very much mediareport!
posted by snsranch at 7:33 PM on March 11, 2008

Here's the post.

You're welcome. It's fascinating stuff; I think he makes his case in a detailed, compelling way.
posted by mediareport at 7:39 PM on March 11, 2008

Ugh, re-reading that thread reminds me what a knee-jerk mess it was. I still think my comment here is a good reply to the folks who look at Gatto and immediately see only a fundamentalist right-wing attack on public schools. It's far from that; rather, it's a detailed critique of the elitist, almost viciously capitalist mindset clearly visible in the early public education leaders' own comments.
posted by mediareport at 7:44 PM on March 11, 2008

USian? POTUS? d00d I p#34r f0r 7h3 fu7ur3 0f r n4710n.
posted by Eideteker at 7:45 PM on March 11, 2008

(Seriously, PotUSA. The “of” and the “the” are not capitalized. That shit pisses me off worse than dumb quotes.)
posted by Eideteker at 7:48 PM on March 11, 2008

mediareport, thanks again, man. I really appreciate your help and I agree with your take on Gatto's work.
posted by snsranch at 8:18 PM on March 11, 2008

You should tell that to SCOTUSBlog.
posted by anotherpanacea at 8:18 PM on March 11, 2008

Seriously, PotUSA. The “of” and the “the” are not capitalized.

That's not how the White House does it. Maybe because PotUSA sounds like either a discount housewares store or a new drug-friendly political party?
posted by Gary at 8:25 PM on March 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Yeah, POTUS, all caps, is standard.

But there's still no excuse for USian.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:47 PM on March 11, 2008 [3 favorites]

USAian, then.

Though he excuse is, we like to use USian. nyaah nyahh
posted by Rumple at 8:57 PM on March 11, 2008

But there's still no excuse for USian.

No excuse for North American, either.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:55 PM on March 11, 2008

No excuse for a name.
posted by dersins at 10:41 PM on March 11, 2008

Just wait until they outlaw Anonymousian.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:48 PM on March 11, 2008

"You should tell that to SCOTUSBlog."

Grrrr... hate them SOOOO much.
posted by Eideteker at 4:37 AM on March 12, 2008

Here was my post on the subject.
posted by absalom at 5:22 AM on March 12, 2008

Grrrr... hate them SOOOO much.

SOOO? You hate them So Overly Obnoxiously Osentatiously (and) Obviously much? I'm not quite sure how to expand that acronym, even if it looks purdy on the page.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 5:22 AM on March 12, 2008

PotUSoA?
posted by dirtdirt at 6:20 AM on March 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

More like PotUSoA, amirite?

(Note that for the purposes of this insightful (or inciteful, amirite?) comment, the A stands for an altered spelling of America that uses one or more 'k's in place of the c so favored by the bigwigs clinging desperately to the status quo.

VOTE NADER
posted by cortex at 8:43 AM on March 12, 2008

MY RON PAUL, LET ME SHOW YOU IT.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:05 AM on March 12, 2008 [1 favorite]