Tag: Classroom

The American Revolution–Early Days

A Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Am. History/Economics

I realize that is post will not sit well with those so called “patriots” that believe that the American Revolution was this spontaneous eruption of the desire for independence.  Sorry, that just is not so.  Reality bites!  If anyone wants a true picture of the early days of the revolution then the study of economics would be the place to start.  The decisions in the early days were more those of economics than some radical political philosophy.

Today, 9/11, is Patriot’s Day.  I want to talk a bit about the original patriots.  Actually, I feel that Remembrance Day would be a better title for the day….but what do I know?

The history of America  is been taught and taught, but unless you are a student of economic history, the story of the beginning is a bit obscure.  We are taught that taxation without representative was one of the major reason that the Colonials wanted out from under the thumb of King George.  That is part of the reason but not the major one.  It was n0t that Joe farmer sat in a pub and longed for freedom from England…far from the real occurrence.

You recall the Sons of Liberty, that covert group that held tea parties and other protests.  In reality only some were concerned with independence, most were wealthy merchants that saw that they could make more profit without dealing with England and its tariffs and such.  These people saw a God-given right to make more profit.

The “Founding Fathers” were rich merchants, lawyers, speculators, etc…the common man was not concerned with freedom at this point.  They were more concerned with their existence and that of their families.  Fighting the British army was far from their minds and independence may have been discussed but few thought it possible.

Yes, I am saying that the original intent of the independence movement was economics not political.  Decisions were being made by the greed of the wealthy, not by the common man working the fields.  That will come later and with the help of an Englishman.

After the French and Indian War, the population of the colonies was booming and spreading and about this time the wealthy colonials began to consider a way to get out of England’s shadow.

With an expanding population, from an economic point of view, meant landowners could increase the value of their holdings.  Speculation was on the rise with the opening of the lands to the West of the Colonies.  Merchants saw the growing population as more and larger markets.  To traders it meant an expansion of imports and exports.  Ship owners saw the growth as an increase in the volume of goods being shipped.  Finally, manufacturers saw the growth in population as larger markets, a larger supply of labor and a decrease in the amount of wages to be paid.

All in all, a larger population would mean that all colonial economic endeavors would be profitable, but first they would have to find away to break with England.  You see the wealthy of the 1770’s were no different than today….they want money money and more power.  But to do what they wanted they needed to get out from under the thumb of British merchantilism.

Mercantilism?  Yep, where the central figure was the authoritarian king.  The mercantilist state aimed for the enlargement of the national power or the monarch in this case, not the gratification of individual aspirations of material advancement.  Only the king truly embodied the realm’s best interests.  Only he could lead and manipulate the realm’s economic interests.

The “founding fathers” interests were in the maximizing their profits, not the liberation of a country and its people from the iron grip of a monarch.  The “founding fathers” were true capitalists.

Understanding Iran–Part 2

From Professor’s Classroom:

Th analysis of the recent Iranian elects bring home the fact that there are two Irans.  One is the old farts of the 1979 Revolution and the fundamentalists and two, the young…students, intelllectuals, middle class and the tech savvy.

Two Irans?  Yes….we have the old farts from the days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the young, the students, middle class, etc.  But what of the “middle age” Iranians?

Middle aged Iranians…..well there is a sticking point…why?….there are NOT many in Iran that are middle aged.  How can that be preofessor, you may ask?

That is a story unto itself……about the time that the ayatollah was coming to power in Iran in 1979…there was another despot coming to power…..one Saddam in Iraq.  In the year 1980 there were intrigues on both sides of the border between Iran and Iraq….Iraq fired one of the first shots of a coming war.  Saddam was afraid that the Shia in Iraq would rise up with Iran’s help and Saddam was after the oil fields in western Iran.  And thus began a bloody and costly war that lasted from 1980 to 1988.  The war could have been named “the battle of the despots”.

Now back to the middle aged Iranians.  The lack of a substantial group of Iranians know as “middle aged” is a direct result of a tactic employed during the war with Iraq, it was know as the Basji or the “human wave”.

The “human wave” was children in white burial garments that were tied together and sent into battle, unarmed, they would lead the Revolutionary Guard…they were used to clear mine fields and act as canon fodder against the Iraqis.  Thousands upon thousands of Iranian children died.

So yes, there are two Irans…the old and the young…….the old revolutionaries from the 1979 gig and the young who are the students, intellectuals, the middle class….the young, who want a more modern western existence.  These the ones that are fighting in the streets now…just as their old fart predecessors did some 30 years ago.  A full circle.

Understanding Iran–Part 1

From Professor’s Classroom:

Most Americans think that the history of Iran and the US began in 1979….a popular misconception.

To help educate my reader on the country of Iran we need to step into the “way back” machine and travel to the year of 1951.

In that year,  one Mohammad Mossadeq was elected prime minister of Iran…the key word in that sentence is “elected”.  This year is at the height of the Cold War where commies were everywhere.  Mossadeq was elected by the Iranian people to lead the country…he was a moderate and was to lead a popular form of Iranian nationalism.  This form of nationalism was festering a hatred for the US  Soon after his election Mossadeq lead the vote in the Iranian parliament to nationalize the oil industry.  And then the Anglo-Iranian Oil Comapny was shut down.  Not a good move and prompted the CIA to come up with a plan to replace Mossadeq.

In 1953, the Shah, who at this time was nothing more than a simple figure head removed Mossadeq from power with the help of his American “friends”.  Thus the Shah came to power simply because he was pro-western and an anti-nationalist and was the choice of the CIA as their man in Tehran.

Once the Shah became the favorite son he began to consolidate his power and influence until he became the despot that was overthrown in 1979.  The Shah retained power because of his willingness to take orders from the CIA and oil interests and his willingness to shed Iranian blood to keep opposition down.  The US reaped a bunch of a willing ally in the region to help fight the advance of communism.

In the 1960’s, the Shah was depending exclusively on the US to keep him in power.

In 1979, after 26 years of oppression from the Shah, the Iranian people had had enough.  They started having those darn pesky nationalistic thoughts once again and the US was the best  known enemy of the people.  Why?  The US was allowing their man in Tehran to rule with an iron hand and every time there was bloodshed it was the fault of the US, at least that is rhetoric of the time.

Enter a little known mullah exiled in France.  And the rest is history, as they say….whoever “they” are.

Professor’s Classroom

I have been asked by many people just what is up with the economy–they were all looking for a simple definition or a simple explanation. Especially from a working class perspective. Well here goes:

Jobs creates consumers–consumers create demand–demand creates jobs and profit–the reach for more profits creates joblessness and bankruptcy–government intervention, like tax cuts to create jobs—to create consumers–to create demand……and it begins again…. it is a vicious cycle.

Simplistic–yes…..but hopefully that will give a simple yet understandable definition of how the cycle works.

Professor’s Classroom

Another Monday, another quiz.  Today’s quiz is going along with what is happening in the real world, economics.

First of all to my participants, I made a screw up and deleted posts and answers to past classrooms, for this I apologize.

Todays question is :  This theory in economics states that in every epoch the prevailing mode of economic production explains the form of social and political organization of society.  What is the theory called?

Good luck and please slip quietly out when finished.

Professor Classroom

It is Monday and yet another quiz to tease the mind.  A little stimulation is always good for the soul, if you get the answer it is a mental orgasm.  Today’s quiz is a bit humorous in a way…I cannot see anyone these days actually doing this.

What are the funds paid to the government, to the public treasury, by persons who feel that they may have cheated the government in their tax payments?

Yes, Irene, there is a name for such an action.

This may have been done in the past, but there is NO way it would be done today.

Professor’s Classroom

It is Monday, storms are waiting and I have a hang over.  Today’s lesson and quiz will be a dosey.

This person was a wealthy industrialist that refused to use young children, provided education for the older ones, work hours were limited, provided decent housing for his workers and all this was in the early 1800’s.  Oh yeah to help make it easier he was the first person to use the term “socialism”.

Good luck and good googling.  May all your searches be fruitful.

Practice Makes Perfect

Muslims and Catholics have been enraged by explicit sex-education lessons in Western Australia schools, where girls as young as 14 are being made to roll condoms on to plastic penises.

Perth, August 25 : Muslims and Catholics have been enraged by explicit sex-education lessons in Western Australia schools, where girls as young as 14 are being made to roll condoms on to plastic penises.

Prominent WA Muslim imam Abdul Jalil Ahmad branded the lessons “pornography in the classroom”.

Peter Rosengren, the Editor of the Catholic Church’s The Record newspaper, said that such a way of imparting sex education to school students was indicative of society’s over-sexualisation of children.

Parents are unhappy because they feel that before introducing any such initiative, their permission should have been taken.

“It’s outrageous. My concern is the ethical standards and moral values of an education system that believes it has the right, without my permission, to get my daughter to put condoms on plastic penises,” Perth Now quoted one Axel Cremer, father of a Year-10 student from Rossmoyne Senior High School, as saying.

Cremer said that the issue was not religious, but was about moral values.

He conceded that it was necessary to educate students about sexually transmittable diseases and unwanted pregnancies, but insisted that there were other ways to teach that.

Terming the lessons “completely evil”, Imam Ahmad said that the Government should band them.

“That’s pornography in the classroom,” he said.

Professor’s Classroom

It is another Monday–Blue Monday–mercifully the Olympics are over and now for the Def Jam of politics, the Democrat Convention.  Oh yeah…how about that…time for the quiz and you thought I had forgotten…no way…no chance…

During the early days of this republic there was a time when politics was called a dynasty, what years and what was the dynasty called and why?  And how were the players in that dynasty?

Not bad for a Monday…..enjoy and good luck.