Posted on 08/06/2005 10:06:11 AM PDT by nwrep
In this second installment of the series "Treason on Campus", we focus on Peter Bohmer, Professor of Economics and "Labor Studies" at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
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Peter Bohmer, Alternatives to Capitalist Globalization
Peter Bohmer, an Economist with degrees from MIT, is a Professor in the Economics and Labor Studies Programs. Among the courses he teaches are the following:
ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALIST GLOBALIZATION
Description: At the beginning of the 21st century, a great number of global and national elite, intellectuals and international financial institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, claim that there are no alternatives to capitalist globalization. They claim that the world must be restructured according to "free market" and "free trade" principles that open up countries to the products, services and investment of multinational corporations; reduce social relations to commercial transactions; and impose Western development models on diverse cultures.
In this program, we will study diverse social movements, organizations and thinkers who are offering alternative visions for organizing global society and meeting human needs. Many of these alternative visions have developed within the emerging global justice movement, and many draw upon historical precedents and various traditions of resistance. Still others have been influenced by socialist, anarchist, ecological, feminist or Southern perspectives. We will explore these and other alternatives to capitalist globalization that have developed around the world. These range from Swedish social democracy, Cuban socialism, to the Indian state of Kerala and Argentina's barter and trading networks.
ORGANIZING FOR DEMOCRACY PROGRAM
Description: What does it mean when President Bush says “we are bringing democracy to the Middle East”? Is the US a democratic country now? What is democracy, exactly? What is the relation between our view of a just society and our view of democracy? What are the political and economic aspects of democracy? How can we act and organize to create a deeper and more meaningful democracy? Within the US? Globally?
We will examine the relations between democracy and human rights and will study key areas of US society such as civil liberties, racism, economic inequality and the economy, gender relations, the media, education and youth, the government and foreign policy.
A major part of the program will be learning how to organize for a democratic society. We will read and watch films about individuals and movements working for social change and justice. We will learn how individuals can make a difference, have their voices heard, and become active in their communities and society. Workshops will be conducted on how to build democratic, inclusive, effective, and sustainable organizations; how to organize protest and resistance; how to do research and influence public policy for social change; how to develop effective strategies and tactics; how to raise funds; how to deal with the media and with repression. We will develop writing, speaking, and other relevant skills for effective organizing and democratic participation.
ENGAGING CUBA: UNCOMMON APPROACHES TO THE COMMON GOOD
Description: Cuba is a country that has experimented with diverse methods of delivering services to its population. Three of the themes of study are those in which Cuba has garnered global recognition for its achievements: education, health care delivery, and organic agriculture. This program explores the objectives, processes and systems of delivering social and/or material services related to these three categories.
Because of the sensitivity around international travel, particularly between the United States and the global South, and people’s stereotypes about Cuban society, the program will require an unusually strong Covenant. Prospective students must agree to the Covenant before admission.
All students will also participate in the research, preparation and delivery of new information throughout spring quarter. We will be based in Havana at a guest house or cheap hotel and we will also travel by bus from Havana to Santiago, Cuba.
During the six week stay in Cuba, students will attend presentations on Cuban history, politics, economics, and culture with some emphasis on health, education and organic agriculture. Students will be expected to attend all required meetings and group activities and on-site visits.
We are negotiating with Global Exchange, www.globalexchange.org on the details and exact costs of our trip. They will handle the logistics in Cuba. Global Exchange has a lot of experience organizing trips to Cuba. Their role will include arranging travel in Cuba, housing, setting up presentations by Cubans, visits to various Cuban sites, cultural activities, incorporating students into activities such as voluntary labor, internships, etc.
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In addition to a large variety of anti-American, anti-Capitalist and activist courses drawing heavily from leftist books, Professor Bohmer also features the following gushing commentary on life in modern Cuba on his website:
From the 1960’s to the late 1980’s, Cuba was one of the most economically equal countries in the world. Almost all production was owned and organized by the state. There was free health care, equal access to free education, and full employment. Hundreds of thousands of apartments were built in Cuban cities—often in the form of huge apartment complexes such as Alamar in Havana. In the countryside, electrification, indoor plumbing, drinkable water and basic housing was provided for almost all Cubans. Hunger and absolute poverty were overcome.
The major changes Cuba has made since 1989 have led to some improvement in the standard of living but has created a new set of social problems. Cuban’s survival in the face of the U.S. attempt to destroy the Cuban revolution is a great achievement as is Cuba’s continuing to provide for the basic needs of its population. For example, every single person in Cuba has free dental and eye care. Every person in Cuba with AIDS gets free, high-quality retroviral drugs.
During our six weeks in Cuba, we were all impressed by how well we were treated and received by the Cuban people and government who consider the U.S. people, but not the U.S. government as their friends. It is up to us to make the difference between the people of the U.S. and our government greater, to make our government’s aggression against Cuba so unpopular in the United States that it is forced to accept Cuban sovereignty.
Cuban society is not the dictatorship you hear about in the media here; people do speak up and criticize, and there is no torture or disappearance of dissidents. There is some suppression of the organized opposition. This repression is because of the fear and the reality of the U.S. commitment to overthrow the Cuban revolution and return Cuba to a neocolonial status.
In conclusion, the survival and maintenance of the Cuban Revolution is incredibly important for the Cuban people and globally. It is an alternative to neoliberalism and a beacon of hope for oppressed people around the world.
The problem is that looney professors think their oppnions are inevitably going to be adopted.
Professors like him see themselves as "advanced" and everyon outside the ivory tower as neaderthals.
This article proves that one can have a higher education and not have learned anything. The brilliant idiot Professor Bohmer proves that PHD does indeed mean piled higher and deeper.
Evergreen State College, alma mater of Rachel "pancake" Corry. This dump is a total waste of taxpayer's money and any student's time. The degree isn't worth the paper it's printed on. I would disown any kid of mine who even thought of going there. (Fortunately none did.)
Evergreen State ping
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
This guy is Evergreen State College's token commie. If he's willing to take the shots, I say let him be. College kids are most of 'em smart enough to see the contradictions between what he is promoting and the way he is living.
This guy is not a traitor. He's delusional.
I'm wondering if we should look into how this professor is promoting illegal activities on our tax dollars?
No he is not. A large number of faculty members seems to have communist sympathies, judging from their websites and the courses they choose to teach. So does the college as a whole.
My dad graduated from there. He had a "I'd rather be killing communists in Central America" bumper sticker on his car while he attended. He did not fit in, but then again he was not a Sociology major either.
One day all these lunatic marxist professors are going to die and we will once again have an educational system that teaches rather than leaches.
He must be a good salesman, he talked Rachel Corrie into
becoming tractor track!
"token Commie"
Token Commie? You're serious? Apparatly you know very little about Evergreen.
Oh jeepers....
If you want to root out silliness and stupidity at Evergreen, you're gonna have to quit your day job.
This is where Rachel Corrie attended school.
Actually, there's a real mix... Evergreen has a lot of anarchist, anti government WTO protester types - maybe more than commies and socialists. Plus the hippies and earth-firsters.... They probably don't get along well even amongst themselves.
Are you the author of this series? Who's on first? Please ping me when you add to your hall of shame.
Very true!
These range from Swedish social democracy, Cuban socialism, to the Indian state of Kerala and Argentina's barter and trading networks.
Sheesh.
5.56mm
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