Local Teacher Suspended ASQ—Winter 2009

I N SI D E T HIS IS S UE :
On Monday, October 26, 2009, Southwestern High School's most popular teacher, Dan Zinn on Obama 2
DeLong, was suspended. DeLong has taught English at Southwestern for 13 years and
is known for his constructivist methods and risqué reading assignments. After assign- Bonds Laughs Last 2
ing an optional assignment on rhetorical analysis, a parent complained that the content
of the assignment was inappropriate for the sophomore level students. Obama Q&A 4
The article was Moore‘s Capitalism 7
called ―The Gay Animal
Kingdom,‖ and was in Seed Child Abuse 8
(June/July 2006), a science
journal. In it, the author,
Jonah Lehrer , reviews some U P C O MIN G E V EN TS
of Joan Roughgarden‘s recent
breakthroughs in biology‘s  Left-wing School: Sunday,
December 6, 2009, at Southern
academic. Roughgarden is a Illinois University Edwardsville
rogue scholar with what (Peck Hall 2413 and 2414), 9:00
Lehrer shows to have quite a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
the academic portfolio of credentials and evidence to make her case, which is tearing down
 Hands-Off Venezuela: Sunday,
Darwin‘s largest claims about sexual selection. Being an assignment on rhetorical analy- January 24, 2010. For more
sis, the students were supposed to research Lehrer and Roughgarden‘s portfolios from details, ask.
other sources, compare credibility, check citations, confirm facts with refuting biologists,
and other measures of rhetorical analysis. A parent (or more), however, could not get over  Weekly Autonomy Alliance
Meeting
the graphic explanations of Roughgarden‘s discoveries—the fact that animals have a lot of
sex, and it‘s not always heterosexual. In fact, Roughgarden contends that the dichotomy
between hetero- and homo- sexuality is largely socially drawn; most species do not draw For information on Events, email us
such rigid sexual preferences. at autonomyalliance@gmail.com.

DeLong was suspended, until a special School Board hearing on his case, the
following Monday (November 2). Students made Facebook groups, one that exceeded G ET IN VO V L E D
2,000 members, in less than a week; they attracted news throughout the Midwest, and the
story even received international coverage in some academic and activist networks.  If you have an opinion and
would like it to be printed in
Within days of his suspension, an article was published in Pscyhology Today (an Autonomy & Solidarity Quar-
terly, please, email us, at auton-
academic psychology publication) by Elizabeth Meyer, Ph.D. , explaining, ―How suspend- omyalliance@gmail.com.
ing Mr. DeLong teaches fear and intolerance‖. Professors from every surrounding college
and university were in an uproar over academic freedom. Local LGBT organizations de-  If you would like to involved in
nounced the act as homophobia. Students, former students, parents, and community mem- Autonomy Alliance, local com-
munity organizing, or publishing
bers, all, demanded the return of their most beloved teacher. ASQ, please, email us, at auton-
omyalliance@gmail.com.
The night of the hearing, about 150 people showed up at the Southwestern Com-
munity School District Office (Piasa, IL) to support Dan DeLong. After being locked out
of the room and having too many people to fit inside, the crowd were forced outside in the
cold for a total of 6 hours. Article Continued on page 7.
P AGE 2 W INT ER 2009

War and Peace Prizes

By Howard Zinn
I was dismayed when I heard Barack Obama was signed the final peace agreement ending the war in Vietnam,
given the Nobel peace prize. A shock, really, to of which he had been one
think that a president carrying on two wars of the architects. Kiss-
would be given a peace prize. Until I recalled inger, who obsequiously
that Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and went along with Nixon's If only politicians
dressed like
Henry Kissinger had all received Nobel peace expansion of the war, NASCAR drivers...
prizes. The Nobel committee is famous for its with the bombing of peas-
superficial estimates, won over by rhetoric and ant villages in Vietnam,
by empty gestures, and ignoring blatant viola- Laos and Cambodia.
tions of world peace. Kissinger, who matches
the definition of a war
Yes, Wilson gets credit for the League of
criminal very accurately,
Nations - that ineffectual body which did nothing
is given a peace prize!
to prevent war. But he had bombarded the Mexi-
can coast, sent troops to occupy Haiti and the People should be
Dominican Republic and brought the US into the given a peace prize not on
slaughterhouse of Europe in the first World War, the basis of promises they
surely among stupid and deadly wars at the top have made - as with
of the list. Obama, an eloquent
maker of promises - but
Sure, Theodore Roosevelt brokered a peace
on the basis of actual ac-
between Japan and Russia. But he was a lover of
complishments towards
war, who participated in the US conquest of
ending war, and Obama has continued deadly, inhuman mili-
Cuba, pretending to liberate it from Spain while
tary action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
fastening US chains on that tiny island. And as
president he presided over the bloody war to The Nobel peace committee should retire, and turn over
subjugate the Filipinos, even congratulating a US its huge funds to some international peace organization which
general who had just massacred 600 helpless is not awed by stardom and rhetoric, and which has some un-
villagers in the Phillipines. The Committee did derstanding of history.
not give the Nobel prize to Mark Twain, who
denounced Roosevelt and criticised the war, nor Howard Zinn is the author of "A People's History of the United States,"
to William James, leader of the anti-imperialist "Voices of a People's History" (with Anthony Arnove), and "A Power Govern-
league. ments Cannot Suppress." This article was originally published in The Guard-
ian. Permission obtained to reprint the article from ZNet was granted by
Oh yes, the committee saw fit to give a Howard Zinn.
peace prize to Henry Kissinger, because he

Bonds Laughs Last

By David Zirin
"I think we have other issues in this country to
worry about that are a lot more serious. Talk about the
athletes that are helping Katrina victims....You know
what? There are still other issues that are more important
(than steroid use in baseball). Right now people are los-
ing lives and don't have homes. I think that's a little more
serious, a lot more serious."So said Barry Bonds in
Washington DC last month, hours before crushing a
home run in cavernous RFK stadium. The seven-time
MVP was back in fighting form with his whipsaw bat and
scabrous tongue after spending the season more hidden than
Jimmy Hoffa. For those of us who love Barry Bonds, we do
so precisely because he is so unlovable. He possesses more
than intergalactic talent. He is one of a select few modern
athletes with a fearless comfort telling uncomfortable truths.
He is the Sean Penn of Major League Baseball, a Sean Penn
in a Tom Hanks world.
Predictably, the anti-Bonds furies - surely Tom
A UT ONOMY & S OLID AR IT Y Q UART ERLY P AGE 3

“If there is any justice in the world. we will see George W. Bush under the congressional hot
lights long before Barry Bonds.”
Hanks fans all - went to work immediately. Drew Sharp
of the Detroit Free Press sniffed, "The man is a phony,
believing that smacking a ball 450 feet gives him lati-
tude to talk smack about his enemies -- real or imagined.
Bonds still doesn't understand that he alone created the
environment of distrust that engulfs him."
David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel wrote,
"When he faces New York media, Bonds will say peo-
ple should be more concerned about 9/11. In Pittsburgh,
he'll defer to the memory of the Johnstown Flood. By
July, he'll be traveling with Cindy Sheehan. If only
Barry's persecution complex allowed him to feel shame.
He's reached a state of denial previously occupied only
by O.J. and Michael Jackson fans." [Whitley's lumping
Bonds in with an accused murderer and child molester is
actually tame compared to some of what is on the blo-
gosphere which seems to have been ghostwritten by
David Duke.]
But with every barb as the season winded down,
Bonds seemed to grow in strength. He led the San Fran-
cisco Giants to an unlikely playoff run, putting heat on
the pitiable San Diego Padres in the National League
West. In a fourteen game stretch, the seven time Na-
tional League MVP rolled out of bed to hit five home
runs with a monstrous .670 slugging percentage. All on
knees a team doctor described as "cartilage on bone."
Bonds's success was both startling and satisfying.
Startling because you just aren't supposed to slug .670
after not playing a whole year and being on the wrong
side of 40. Satisfying because he looked terrific doing it.
Many a dime-store pundit had gleefully predicted Barry
would be a physical shadow of his former self. Since
steroid testing kicked into full gear, several players came
into spring looking like they spent the winter in a sauna.
Bonds, they crowed, would show up resembling Jimmy
"J.J." Walker. Instead he came back even bigger, a
happy roll of proud middle-aged flab coating his mus-
cled frame. Bonds looks like he has spent this off-season
spending far more time with olive oil than the flaxseed
variety. He was smiling and talked openly about chasing
down Babe Ruth's magic 714 home runs early next sea-
son.
His state of mind seems miles from the Bonds six
months ago who seemed on the verge of retirement when
he said to reporters, "I'm tired of my kids crying... you
wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did. You finally
brought me and my family down... so go pick on a differ-
ent person." That Bonds was a defeated person, guilty be-
fore proven innocent. He was treated like anabolic carrion
by a cadre of media vultures. The sports radio harpies, who
know less about medicine than Dr. Pepper want Bonds
buried. [I'm not saying steroids aren't harmful. I just be-
lieve we need to stop treating "Mike and the Mad Dog"
like they represent the American Medical Association.]
This should be an affront to every fan in the game. They
want to bury the only living player with 500 home runs and
500 stolen bases, a player who averaged a 30/30 for the
entire decade of the '90s; a player who has never failed a
drug test; a player whose home town fans in the Bay have
his back by the thousands; a player without peer. They
want to bury him, but Bonds is proving to have more lives
than Freddie Krueger. Now every spiteful reporter, con-
gressional jock sniffer, and - it must be said - racist "fan"
who doesn't want to see the mean Black guy pass the Babe,
gagged on his late season success.
The icing on the cake was the comment from Dave
Marin, the spokesman for House Government Reform
Committee chairman Tom Davis, who is leading the con-
gressional steroid media circus. Marin heard Bonds' com-
ments and said, "It's the type of response folks on Capitol
Hill hear all the time from those who wish attention was
focused on other things," Actually, Mr. Marin, it's the type
of response that is desperately needed. It's frankly criminal
that your attention is not "on other things." A government
able to destroy and occupy other countries but unable or
unwilling to repair levees should probably get their heads
out of the damn sports pages. If there is any justice in the
world. we will see George W. Bush under the congres-
sional hot lights long before Barry Bonds.
This article was originally published on ZNet, and was retrieved from ZNet, on
October 10, 2009. Dave Zirin is the author of "A People's History of Sports in the
United States" (The New Press) Receive his column every week by emailing
dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com

Paulo Freire was a teacher in Brazil who made students interested in Who’s Who?
lessons by relating it to their lives. He argued that students must ob-
tain power over their education to accomplish self-determination.
This accomplishment, he argued, is ultimately achieved by the stu-
dent-teacher relationship being blurred to the point of contradiction.
At this point, students can act as self-disciplined learners autono-
mously from any outside parental, teacher, administrative, govern-
mental, business, or other authority. His most famous book, Peda-
gogy of the Oppressed, must be read by any teacher seeking to seri-
ously empower students to achieve their full potential. Paulo Freire
P AGE 4 W INT ER 2009

Obama: Q & A
Dissident U.S. author Paul Street was interviewed by Brazilian journalist Leonardo Sequeira via e-mail between 10 AM
and 12 PM on September 18, 2009. The interview took place before: the awarding of the Olympics to Rio/Brazil (not Chi-
cago/US), the Orwellian granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama, Obama's claim at the G20 Summit in Pitts-
burgh(where militarized police dispersed protesters with tear gas, pepper spray, batons, and an eardrum-piercing "crowd
control" machine mounted in the turret of a tank) that Iran had been caught with a "secret nuclear weapons facility," the
U.S.-led burial of the United Nations Human Rights Council's Goldstone Report (on Israel's war crimes in Gaza in late
2008 and early 2009), and the efforts U.S. negotiators to weaken rich nations' commitment to serious carbon emission re-
duction measures at global climate meetings (held in late September and early October) in Bangkok.

Q (Sequeira): Is Obama losing credibility in the U.S.?
A (Street): Yes, to some extent he is. His approval rating
fell from 69 percent to 52 percent between January and
late August of 2009. That is a very rapid decline by
comparative historical standards. The "honeymoon" is
over. According to surveys, most U.S. citizens surveyed
now disapprove of Obama's economic policies and of his
(very weak and corporate-friendly) efforts at "health
reform." A growing number oppose his determination to
escalate and expand the U.S. war in (maybe I should say
"on") Afghanistan, which is something he quite clearly
promised to do during the 2007-2008 campaign.
The fall in Obama's popularity over the sum-
mer of 2009 partly reflects a growing sense that he is
unable and/or unwilling to undertake policies and actions
necessary to stem increasing unemployment and to pro-
vide universal affordable and high quality health care to
the citizens. Obama is an effective public speaker and a
highly "charismatic" and intelligent, telegenic personal-
ity. But a silver tongue and good, youthful looks only go
so far when the U.S. official unemployment rates heads
toward 10 percent (an honestly calculated rate would be
closer to 20 percent) and thousands are losing their
health insurance and homes each day - all this as the
"defense" empire) budget (at least $1 trillion per year
and responsible for nearly half the military spending on
Earth)) has actually increased, while an increasing num-
ber of U.S. soldiers are dying (needlessly) in Afghani-
stan, and as the biggest banks get bigger and richer
thanks to the actions of the Obama economic team,
which is itself made up largely of Wall Street insiders.
One of Obama's problems is that his campaign
and the media built an almost Messiah-like aura around
him. The democratic and social expectations surround-
ing his election were inordinately high, particularly in
the wake of the George W. Bush -Dick Cheney admini-
stration, possibly the most incompetent and grossly plu-
tocratic White House in U.S. history. The higher the
expectations for "change"$ from a president, the bigger
the fall in popularity and credibility when that president
is revealed to be another all-too mortal and limited politi-
cian who functions in service to existing dominant do-
mestic and global hierarchies and doctrines.
Q. If so, is it entirely his fault?
A. No. The deep underlying problems with U.S. capital-
ism are beyond the control of any single politician or policy
maker. Obama walked into power amidst the unfolding of an
epic financial meltdown and a related historic "Great Reces-
sion" that was obviously not his creation. He inherited two
ugly colonial wars (the first one of which, Afghanistan, he
completely embraced from the start and promised to expand,
of course) initiated by Bush and Cheney and a vast govern-
ment deficit that was fed by the Bush administration's combi-
nation of massive military spending with giant tax cuts for the
wealthy. He also inherited a deep popular skepticism of the
federal government resulting from years of scandal and corrup-
tion under Bush and Bill Clinton. He deals with a Congress
that is itself deeply beholden to corporate and related military
interests (this applies to Democrats no less than to Republi-
cans), with a corporate media that is opposed to any serious
progressive policies, and with a fanatical right wing movement
and media (far-right "talk radio" and FOX News television)
that is significantly racist and make bizarre accusations, claim-
ing, for example, that Obama is a "socialist. He is a corporatist.
Still, Obama has created some of his own problems.
He and his business-oriented staff have been too ideologically
conservative, cautious, and centrist to do the sorts of things
required to produce a meaningful economic recovery and to
put money in the hands of the poor and working classes. He
has been unwilling to pass truly substantive new financial re-
forms (including the at least temporary nationalization of lead-
ing financial institutions) or to advance large public works
projects or the labor law reform that are desperately needed to
put money and purchasing power back in the hands of the na-
tion's working class majority. His corporate-managed "health
reform" is nowhere close to what is required to cut costs and
provide affordable and quality coverage to everyone. It leaves
the big insurance and drug companies - and behind them, the
big financial institutions - in basic charge of the nation's health
fare future. If Obama was serious about health reform he
would advance single-payer government insurance on the
model of Canada, kicking the private insurance mafia out of
the health care business altogether. But he isn't serious about it
In the May 2009 edition of the centrist U.S magazine
The Atlantic, Simon Johnson, the former chief economist of
the International Monetary Fund, argued that Obama admini-
stration is in Wall Street's pocket to a degree that was prevent-
ing him attacking the recession to the degree required. In an
article titled "The Quiet Coup," Johnson noted that the [Bush
and Obama administrations have both] "taken extreme care not
A UT ONOMY & S OLID AR IT Y Q UART ERLY
“The deep underlying problems with U.S. capitalism are
beyond the control of any single politician or policy maker.”
to upset the interests of the financial institutions or to
question the basic outlines of the system that got us"
into a Great Recession. "[The] elite business interests
[who] played a central role in creating the crisis...with
the implicit backing of the government" [are] "using
their influence to prevent precisely [the] reforms that
are needed" to end the recession. The Atlantic's editors
concluded that "the finance industry has effectively
captured our government—a state of affairs that more
typically describes emerging markets, and is at the cen-
ter of many emerging-market crises If the IMF's staff
could speak freely about
the U.S., it would tell us
what it tells all countries in
this situation: recovery will
fail unless we break the
financial oligarchy that is
blocking essential reform. "
Obama is the
latest embodiment of a
recurrent problem with
U.S. politics. Every four
years millions of American
voters are induced to put
their political hats on, to
hope a bit, and then to go
back to sleep. To hope that
a savior or at least a more
effective manager can be
installed in the White Does this art point to accurate consistencies, or
House to raise wages, roll does it grossly cheapen Dr. Martin Luther King?
back war and militarism,
provide universal and ade- Write us, at autonomyalliance@gmail.com.
quate health care, rebuild
infrastructure, fix the envi-
ronmental crisis, reduce inequality, and generally make
life more livable. The savior can be named Jack Ken-
nedy (1960) or Bobby Kennedy (1968) or Teddy Ken-
nedy (1979) or Gene McCarthy (1968) or George
McGovern (1972) or Jimmy Carter (1976) or Bill Clin-
ton (1992) or Adlai Stevenson or Barack Obama, It
doesn't matter. Under the rules of American "corporate-
managed democracy," officially "electable" candidates
who want a serious shot at lasting power subordinate
themselves to what the left U.S. writers Edward S.
Herman and David Peterson call "the unelected dicta-
torship of money," which "vets the nominees of the
Republican and Democratic parties, reducing the op-
tions available to U.S. citizens to two candidates, nei-
ther of whom can change the foreign or domestic pri-
orities of the imperial regime."
Q. There were people who thought Obama could keep
alive the dream of Martin Luther King of rebuilding a
free and equal society. In one interview Larry King
Live aired on November 5th of 2008, Martin Luther
P AGE 5
King III, the oldest son of Luther King, didn't hide his happiness
by seeing the first Afro-American president on history. Was the
dream real?
A. Most Americans know next to nothing about the real Dr.
King, a self-declared democratic socialist who came near the
end of his life to the conclusion that American social (class and
race) inequality expressed "systemic rather than superficial
flaws" suggesting "that radical reconstruction of society itself is
the real issue to be faced." King agreed with the New Left that,
in his words in 1967, "only by structural change can current
evils be eliminated, because the roots are in the system rather in
men or faulty operations."
This is not even remotely the
perspective of Obama, who has regu-
larly and repeatedly expressed his
"love" for the supposedly noble and
"efficient "American system" of pur-
portedly "free market" capitalism."
It is historic that a black fam-
ily now resides in the White House in
what was once a land of black chattel
slavery but Obama and King are very
different historical characters. King
was a democratic socialist who would
be leading protests against the state
capitalist policies of Obama and the
congress were he alive today.
Sadly, Martin Luther King III has
been a rather selfish and bourgeois
character, quite unlike his leftist
father. I should add that the real
radical reality of Dr. King is deleted
from standard history texts and
curriculum in the United States. So
are the socialist beliefs of Albert
Einstein and Hellen Keller for example.
Progressive activists should always remember that the
most important thing about a particular politician or policy-
maker is not merely his or her color or ethnicity or gender or
religion (or non-religion) or age but rather - as the left author
and filmmaker John Pilger put it last spring - "the class he or
she serves." As Pilger noted, the George W. Bush administra-
tion went to unusual lengths to include black Americans
(e.g.Condi Rice and Colin Powell) in top policymaking posi-
tions but was still one of the most conservative and dangerous
U.S. administrations of all time.
Anyone who said Obama was going be the 21st cen-
tury version of Dr. King was revealing deep historical ignorance
Comparing a politician like Obama to the likes of great social
justice and movement leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. or
Malcom X or Frederick Douglass is like comparing an orange
with apples.
Q. Is Obama a myth? If he is not a myth, what is he in reality?
A. Obama is a calculating politician, like Bill Clinton or for that
P AGE 6
matter like George Bush I and George
Bush II though he's a lot smarter than
the last two). The notion that Obama is
some sort of progressive and anti-
war/anti-empire "left" actor...now,
that's a total myth. His campaign sold
and exploited this myth to win liberal
and "left" support in the Democratic
primary campaign but the deeper real-
ity is clear since the election. And it
was quite clear to many of us well
before the election that he was a cen-
trist at best - someone who would be
considered right-wing in many, per-
haps most nations in the world. As a
campaigner, Obama liked to say that
"change comes from the bottom up,
not from the top down." Since he
reached the pinnacle of U.S. and global
power, he doesn't say that much if at all
anymore.
As the left-liberal U.S. politi-
cal scientist Sheldon Wolin predicted
in his book Democracy Incorporated:
Managed Democracy and the Specter
of Inverted Totalitarianism last year:
"Should Democrats somehow be
elected, corporate sponsors [will] make
it politically impossible for the new
officeholders to alter significantly the
direction of society." In the United
States' election-focused political cul-
ture, Wolin elaborated, "the parties set
out to mobilize the citizen-as-voter, to
define political obligation as fulfilled
by the casting of a vote. Afterwards,
post-election politics of lobbying, re-
paying donors, and promoting corpo-
rate interests - the real players - takes
over The effect is to demobilize the
citizenry, to teach them not to be in-
volved or to ponder matters that are
either settled or beyond their effi-
cacy...The timidity of a Democratic
Party mesmerized by centrist precepts
points to the crucial fact that, for the
poor, minorities, the working-class,
anticorporatists, pro-environmentalists,
and anti-imperialists, there is no oppo-
sition party working actively on their
behalf."
That formulation has been
born out pretty well, I'd have to say. I
don't think the story would be any dif-
ferent if Hillary Clinton had won the
Democratic nomination and the presi-
dency. And by the way, if we had a
Hillary Clinton White House today, the
American right would be stridently and
absurdly accusing her of being a
"socialist" president as well.
Q. In the same interview with Larry
King, Rev. Pat Robertson, founder of
the Christian Coalition, mentioned a
comparison made by young people,
especially the white evangelicals. Some
polls show that Obama won 32 percent
of this group whose age is between 18
and 29. In other words, they thought he
was a kind of Messiah or Moses. Now,
the media treat him like a sinner. What
happened?
A. This question is not quite clear to
me. I don't see the media treating
Obama as a "sinner" quite yet! Domi-
nant U.S. media has seemed more will-
ing to report his difficulties and flaws
as his popularity has declined, I sup-
pose. Obama was remarkably popular
among younger voters in 2007 and
2008. His support with young adults is
naturally going to fade as the growing
unemployment specter hangs over the
heads of college and high school
graduates and as Obama appears un-
able or unwilling to offer meaningful
solutions.
Q. A study by the Project for Excel-
lence in Journalism and the Joan
Shorenstein Center on the Press, Poli-
tics and Public Policy shows that some
candidates like Obama had a more
favorable coverage than others. How
did he escape from media coverage?
A. I read that study. Candidate and
early president Obama probably had
the most favorable media coverage
since Jack Kennedy in 1959-61. For a
while, it seemed almost like a fawning
love affair. Reporters and media man-
agers like an eloquent, intelligent,
handsome, youthful, energetic, and
optimistic leader. Many were "star-
struck" to a degree that seemed almost
ridiculous. After the really terrible
Bush-Cheney fiasco, they shared and
fanned a great national hunger for
something and someone "new" - for a
U.S. public relations makeover starting
at the level of the White House
Obama enjoyed a spectacular "novelty
dividend" that media helped create and
sell. By comparison, John McCain and
Hillary Clinton were the old and stale
product lines that had to be pulled off
the shelves along with Bush and Che-
ney. Now the over-exposed Obama
(it's been Obama, Obama, Obama 24/7
W INT ER 2009
ing new. One hundred days is a very
short period, too brief to meaningfully
evaluate the trajectory of a new ad-
ministration. I found the "first 100
days" reporting in the leading press
outlets fairly shallow. It praised
Obama for being some sort of wel-
come "non-" and "post-ideological"
and "post-partisan" policymaker with
nothing more than a "pragmatic" inter-
est in "getting things done." That
"analysis" deleted Obama's primary
service to the rich and powerful within
and beyond Wall Street. It said little
about his cold betrayal of his liberal
and progressive voting base, which
was already quite clear.
Still at one point in late
March, the Washington Post published
an excellent commentary by William
Greider. Greider wrote the following:
"People everywhere [have]
learned a blunt lesson about power,
who has it and who doesn't. They
[have] watched Washington run to
rescue the very financial interests that
caused the catastrophe. They [have]
learned that government has plenty of
money to spend when the right people
want it. ‗Where's my bailout,' became
the rueful punch line at lunch counters
and construction sides nationwide.
Then to deepen the insult, people
[have] watched as establishment
forces re-launched their campaign for
‗entitlement reform - a euphemism for
whacking Social Security benefits,
Medicare and Medicaid"
Greider's column was titled
"Obama Told us to Speak - Is He Lis-
tening?" Good question.
Q. Did the media buy the slogan Yes
we can?
A. Well, sort of, but only insofar as it
meant that "we" could defeat one pro-
big business and pro-military party
(the Republicans) and candidate
(McCain) with another such party (the
Democrats) and candidate (Obama). It
didn't buy (or sell) "Yes we can" in
terms of building social movements
and fighting for democracy in Ameri-
can workplaces and institutions more
broadly on a daily basis beneath and
beyond the quadrennial, corporate-
crafted, mass-marketed, narrow-
spectrum (all viable candidates being
required in advance to embrace state
capitalism) candidate-centered
A UT ONOMY & S OLID AR IT Y Q UART ERLY
on U.S. television and in the press for a long time now --- it
gets ridiculous) has lost some of his novelty and has been ex-
posed as yet another kind of boring and conservative, big
money, corporate-backed politician - another droning, pain-
in-the-rear officeholder, glad-hander, speech-maker, etc.
Q. How do you evaluate the coverage on first lady Michele
Obama? Was the media trying to make her a new Mrs. Jackie
Kennedy?
A. Sure. The Jackie Kennedy analogy has been quite strong.
From a feminist perspective, it‘s pretty offensive . Michelle
Obama was an urbane, highly educated (also Harvard Law, for
what that's worth) big city professional in her own right before
the "Obama phenomenon" went nationwide and global in
2004. But during and since the 2008 election cycle, she's been
trivialized and domesticated to no small degree - relegated to
the "fashion" margins in very patriarchal ways.
Q. Some of the American newspapers like The New York
Times, The Washington Post, and other media outlets made a
commitment with their public by covering Obama's first 100
days. What was the result of that coverage? Was that coverage
worthy?
A. The intensive coverage and analysis of a new president's
"first 100 days" is a silly tradition in U.S. journalism. It's noth-
Movie Review
Michael Moore’s
By Alec Plant
Capitalism: A Love Story is Michael Moore's latest
documentary that takes aim at social problems in America.
The film is concerned largely with how struggling banks
were given generous bailouts during the economic melt-
down and how average Americans received nothing but
foreclosure notices and pink slips.
Moore does some good work documenting abuses
suffered by workers in a capitalist system. He hones in on
a family who's home has been foreclosed, and follows up
with statistics that detail the housing crisis. He has a pile of
P AGE 7
"electoral extravaganzas" (Noam Chomsky's term) that
pass as the only real "politics" that matter in the U.S..
Q. So, can we?
A. Sure, provided that, among other things, we learn, as
Chomsky counsels, to define politics more meaning-
fully, in terms of dedicated rank and file activism and
organization beneath and beyond the corporate-
managed dollar democracy's carefully staged show-
elections, regardless of their outcomes. There's a lot
more to be said on what's involved in terms of political
strategy and how to re-structure U.S. politics so that
public opinion might matter more than it does at pre-
sent...but that's another interview.
Paul Street (paulstreet99@yahoo.com)is the author of many
articles, chapters, speeches, and books, including Empire and
Inequality: America and the World Since 9/11 (Boulder, CO:
Paradigm, 2008); Racial Oppression in the Global Metropo-
lis (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), Empire and
Inequality: America and the World Since 9/11 (Boulder, CO:
Paradigm, 2004), Segregated Schools: Educational Apart-
heid in the Post-Civil Rights Era (New York: Routledge,
2005); and Barack Obama and the Future of American Poli-
tics. (Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2008).
numbers and charts, probably familiar to those of who
have spent time on the left, detailing the declining
living standards of the American worker, the reduc-
tion of the tax burden on the wealthy, how real wages
have remained stagnant over the last thirty years de-
spite that fact that production per worker has skyrock-
eted, and many more statistics. He interviews pilots
who make less than employees at McDonald's, and
tries to show how their lack of funding leads to poor
performance on the job. Facts and personal stories are
P AGE 8
interwoven effectively
The rotund documentarian
focuses his attacks heavily on the
banking and insurance industries.
He talks about ―dead peasant‖ in-
surance plans, in which companies
take out life insurance policies on
their employees and collect huge
settlements if they die. He brings
out an internal CitiGroup memo that
celebrates the fact that America is a
plutocracy, and how that's very
good for the business. He pulls
stunts to try to drive home his
points. For instance, he tries to walk
into the headquarters of a major
Wall Street company with a money
bag and asks for the American peo-
ple's money back from the bailout.
While over the top and bordering on
juvenile, his theatrics had me enter-
tained and helped break up some of
the drama. However, Moore never
explains how capitalism is an inher-
ently exploitative system. He fo-
cuses heavily on how deregulation
led to the creation of lending poli-
cies that contributed to the eco-
nomic crisis, but presents these
problems as if they can be fixed
simply by passing regulatory legis-
lation, as if booms and busts haven't
Child Abuse: A Hidden Crisis
There are undoubtedly a lot of effects
the recent economic crisis has had on
the world, but most of the discussed
effects have been in economic insti-
tutions. Adults, who write the great
majority of what we read, have paid
little attention to the instability, vio-
lence, and other effects in the family
that have been indirectly caused by
the crisis, because the majority of it
has not been at their expense.
I recall an incident on the play-
ground, in third grade, when an
older boy attacked another boy and
screamed all the way into the Princi-
pal‘s Office, ―We need to teach this
boy some manners!‖ I remember
being told all the way up through
been an integral part of capitalism
since its inception.
While Moore touches on
many of the most distressing prob-
lems and gluttonous excesses of the
capitalist system, he fails to show
how the problems are systemic
rather than isolated, and seems to
advocate a return to pre-Regan eco-
nomics, rather than totally dispens-
ing with capitalism. He never ex-
plicitly advocates socialism, and at
times he even seems to be specifi-
cally avoiding the ―S‖ word. Dur-
ing an interview on ―Hannity,‖ he
was asked directly if he advocates
socialism. Moore avoided the ques-
tion and answered that he supports
―democracy‖. But what is socialism
if not democracy in the economic
sphere?
Moore makes reference to the
―capitalism of his childhood‖, as if
it was a fair system where it was
possible to work a decent wage and
receive a decent living in return.
But, as Michael Moore seems to
forget, this was also the capitalism
that produced Vietnam and violent
racial conflicts. It's also worth not-
ing that many of the aspects he
admires of that era, like higher
By Andy Lucker
school by friends that their parents
beat them. More recently, I have
worked with children who would ex-
W INT ER 2009
wages and secure jobs, were hard-
earned in labor struggles from ear-
lier decades, and were by no means
an inherent part of pre-Regan
American capitalism
Another gripe: the film was
just too long. It lacked a coherent
structure and was jumbled. Capital-
ism felt like it was always about to
go for the heart issue, to provide a
nucleus around which the rest of its
points could coalesce, but never did.
Instead it just tacked on segment
after segment, each one compelling
in its on right, but never connected
to a larger whole.
Capitalism: A Love Story tries
to strike a balance between con-
demning capitalism but not being
too radical to distance itself from
the average American, but in doing
so compromises its ability to make
a potent critique. At the end of the
documentary, Moore wonders aloud
what it will take to rouse the Ameri-
can people to action. Perhaps a clear
picture of a post-capitalist economic
system would stir the American
consciousness, rather than a vague
shadow of something ―different‖
and ―democratic‖.
pose wounds after saying, ―Look what
Mommy/Daddy did to me…. I‘s a bad
boy/girl…‖
Nonetheless, when talking to
parents about hitting children, many
casually take surprisingly disgusting
approaches. ―Sometimes, the kid just
needs reminded who‘s boss!‖ But, is
reasserting parental authority worth
the cost of drowning out millions of
children‘s worthwhile calls for help?
As the economic crisis has worsened,
working parents have taken on more
work hours, had to pay more for
childcare (if not outright refused for
inconsistency), and have become
more stressed than before. Many
parents unable to find work have
 P AGE 9
“Children who have been abused are more likely to abuse drugs, not do well in school, they
are more likely to be obese; they’re also likely to continue that pattern and marry into
violent situations, or be abusive in the future.”
- Rebecca Gordon, Missouri’s KidsFirst
had to withdraw their children from daycare, depriving
them of important socialization. As a result of the eco-
nomic crisis on the family, cases of child abuse discov-
ered in St. Louis hospitals have reached new heights.
Child abuse, which is caused by everything from
bad parenting to extreme psychological problems, is a
violent, neglectful, or otherwise demented behavior .
Though, it is arguably part of many parenting methods;
here, a moderate definition of physically or verbally
hurting a child, with no regard for seriously damaging
the child. Most psychologists explain it as a behavior
typically handed down from parent to child to be so-
cially reproduced in the next generation. When children
are raised with violent parents, they assume violence is
parenting. Today, families are being put under pressure
from the larger economic crisis, with extra stress and
harsher economic alternatives.
The Illinois Department of Child and Family Ser-
vices reported a rise in child abuse cases of 5.8% in
2008; the Chicago area experienced an increase of 9%
in child abuse cases, just in the year 2008. Missouri‘s
Public News Service reported, ―In Missouri, child
abuse was up 16 percent during the last economic
downturn. Policymakers are currently implementing the
‗Strengthening Families Initiative‘ at child care centers
statewide, where providers are currently being trained
on building protective factors in families.‖ (November
19, 2008)
A later report (April 1, 2009) from MPNS quoted
Rebecca Gordon, of Missouri‘s KidsFirst, saying, ―One
in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused
before the age of 18. If you look at a classroom of kids,
whether or not your child is abused, your child knows
somebody who has been abused.‖ Given the problem is
so pervasive, it needs to be seen as one that affects us
all. Those abused go on to interact with the rest of soci-
ety and probably the next generation of children.
―Children who have been abused are more likely to
abuse drugs, not do well in school, they are more likely
to be obese; they‘re also likely to continue that pattern
and marry into violent situations, or be abusive in the
future.‖
As Gordon states, the problem is one exhibited,
socially reproduced, and reenacted by a new generation
of parents. Because domestic violence is a ―private‖
problem, it may not seem as easy to spot as an eco-
nomic crisis. This is why it is important that schools
and childcare facilities are closely tied, if not somewhat
combined with institutions like the Department of Child
and Family Services. Talking about one of the leaps of
W INT ER 2009
progress in resolving kinship problems, Gordon said,
―One of the biggest changes is that we are able talk
about it in our homes, in our communities, in our
schools. The legislature is really dealing with it as a
community-based problem and really looking at solv-
ing it as an investment in the future.‖ Discerning how
and when intervention outside of the domestic partners
(by some sort of community or municipal institution)
is necessary, can be difficult. I can recall countless
occasions where children have confessed a case of
abuse to a teacher, friend, or other confidant, but cow-
ered to confess in the face of a questioning authority
that could actually intervene and end the abuse.
Understandably, a wrongly suspected parent is a
caution to instituting reforms. Parents who raise chil-
dren under healthy social practices shouldn‘t have
their children taken away; but no one is suggesting
they should. The concern is one that affects abused
children more than anyone, so our question should,
instead, be: What should we be more cautious of—a
wrongly suspected parent, or an abuse case of torture
and neglect that could have easily been ended, along
with its cycle of violence?
Reforms like the Strengthening Families Initiative
pose potential for finding problems of abuse and offer-
ing proper support, care, and protection; however,
these reforms don‘t resolve the basis on which domes-
tic abuse is founded. (SFI attempts to make it easier
for children to report abuse.) Today, parents are ex-
pected to take the ultimate (almost sole) responsibility
for the upbringing of a successful human being, so-
cially, financially, culturally, and sexually. Until these
activities are taken out of the privacy and closed doors
of domestic life, and children have the opportunity to
learn and interact on these bases unhidden, children
will unnecessarily miss days of school to hide wounds.
Parents will continue to feel insecure about their
job as a parent and revert to more extreme measures
and punishments, even when the deck is stacked
against them financially. Children will continue think-
ing their life is the norm—punishment is torture, truth
is obedience, alcoholism is peace, and freedom is slav-
ery.
One place to start is socializing all childcare and
making these facilities open to all hours. Childcare is
another expense that causes working parents more
insecurity in the workplace, as well as more stressed
out parents. Children must have a place to go that is
equal in al these respects—safe and full of care, food
A UT ONOMY & S OLID AR IT Y Q UART ERLY P AGE 10

and space, and social interaction—regardless of any parental economic status.

An institutional glimpse of how society could bring this and other ―private‖ matters into the public light was in the
dreams of the educator John Dewey, who sought to have schools that were 24-hour community centers, technical institutes,
academic centers, cultural outlets, eateries, and hubs of public policy discourse. This could pool society‘s resources together
and allow for a more open, less bureaucratic structure to handle any potential domestic problems. Dewey may not have real-
ized it, but he envisioned what feminists have been doing for well over a century – making issues that have been seen as per-
sonal (private), to be seen as political struggles.

If you or someone you know is a victim of child abuse, contact the Department of Children & Family Services, in Illi-
nois: 1-800-25-ABUSE; in Missouri: 1-800-392-3738.
To take a victim of domestic violence to a shelter, call one:
in the Aton, Illinois area, call Oasis Women's Center: (618) 465-1978;
in the Belleville, Illinois area, call Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois: (618) 235-0892;
in the East St. Louis, Illinois area, call Holy Angels Shelter: (618)874-4079;
in St. Louis, Missouri, call Karen House (Catholic Worker) (314) 621-4052.

“Teacher…”
Continued from front page
The night of the hearing, about 150 people showed repeatedly claimed that he was a successful teacher on the
up at the Southwestern Community School District Office basis that he had them read material that pushed them out
(Piasa, IL) to support Dan DeLong. After being locked of their comfort zone, forcing students to explore ideas
out of the room and having too many people to fit inside, and concepts they had never considered or ideas from
the crowd were forced outside in the cold for a total of 6 which they had been sheltered. DeLong‘s speech set a
hours. After the first five hours, the meeting was re- precedence for future content and its ―appropriateness‖ in
opened to the public, but not everyone could speak. Only his classroom.
representatives could speak from ambiguous groups pre- DeLong, in his speech, declared that the controversy
sent—students, parents, and a reading of a student‘s peti- was never about sexuality or sexual preference. If it was-
tion. n‘t, though, why did the majority of his students think that
Then, the crowd was forced back outside to deliber- it was? Did they understand that heterosexual encounters
ate a verdict and final statement. After midnight, the are never discussed at school?
crowd was allowed back in to hear Dan DeLong deliver a The students are not stupid. They understood that
speech that claimed that he does not think the optional Darwin‘s assumptions and argument about sexual selec-
assignment was age appropriate for sophomore students, tion contains certain sexual engagements. They, also,
that he had received a ―notice of remedial warning,‖ and understood that a scientist must counter-pose ample and
that he would resume teaching again. The students went specific evidence to properly refute a popular thesis. As
nuts in applause, but was this a victory? students of DeLong‘s, they are well-trained thinkers, in
Certainly, this respect.
keeping the Their parents,
most challeng- the Admini-
ing and inspir- stration, and
ing teacher at the School
a school is a Board, on the
victory, but other hand,
that wasn‘t all have not
for which the proved to be
students had as good at
fought. In critical think-
their argu- ing as the
ments online, coming gen-
they defended eration.
DeLong and
 P AGE 1 1
These young people proved in-
credible organization skills, great use
of the Internet (specifically, Face-
book), the utmost respect for their
mentor, and a stunning amount of
participation for high school students.
They offer a glimpse of progress that
may be able to push us further in the
future—to a world with tolerance, no
heterosexism, academic freedom, and
rampant use of critical thinking skills.
It will be an interesting contradiction
to see them interact with their par-
ents‘ generation, many of whom
found ―The Gay Animal Kingdom‖
to be inappropriate.
This phenomenon may not be
such a clean generational break,
though. Most of the students at the
core of the organizational work for
DeLong‘s defense were former stu-
dents of his, not current students.
These (generally older) students have
developed a passion for challenging
the status quo and exploring new
ideas—active participation with a
base of critical thought. If this, and
not a generational gap, is a major
reason for the saving of DeLong‘s
job, then, it would only speak vol-
umes the potential effects of educa-
tion and pedagogy.
Even more, the district has some
unique internal quirks. Southwestern
has been known (for better, or worse)
to be one of the least progressive of
surrounding districts, on most social
issues; however, the School Board‘s
hearing produced DeLong‘s speech,
which declared this to be a misrepre-
sentation of the community. Regard-
less, the Administration‘s decision to
suspend DeLong, encourage firing
him, and attempt to charge him for
child abuse—all merely for having
If you have an opinion or suggestion for the printing of Autonomy & Solidarity
Quarterly, a comment on a news event, an opinion about a social issue, or would
like to see something published about a specific subject, please, email us, at
autonomyalliance@gmail.com.
W INT ER 2009
this optional assignment—invoked lock them out in the cold for 6 hours,
surrounding communities to assume before voting against their will.
that Southwestern‘s Administration Their final decision seems to be one
was behind the times. of cowardice politics—afraid to take
Altogether, the hearing left some a stand or have an opinion.
confusion. How controversial will At least the opinions of the Admini-
DeLong‘s future readings be?
Was DeLong‘ speech a genuine
reconsideration of his deci-
sions, or a conglomeration of
negotiated statements hammered
out with bureaucrats in a 6 hour
meeting? Was the delay an at-
tempt to dwindle the 150 angry
protestors with having them all
catch colds, an attempt to post-
pone the verdict until after the
nightly news aired, or the result
of belaboring many difficult
decisions? As harsh as it is to
say this, the interpretation of
many of the community organiz-
ers present was that this hearing,
along with a victory that kept his
job, also, was a loss in other
respects.
Many teachers have dis-
cussed feeling hesitance to as- stration and the students were
sign potentially risqué texts. Colleges brought in clear, honest contradic-
and universities are holding more tion. The politicians, on the other
stringent rules on assignments Educa- hand, want to keep their feet in both
tion students can present in class- camps, which is dragging our stu-
rooms. The issue of heterosexism has
dents behind. It would be interesting
again been sidelined in another to see if an Administration in Ed-
school. An Administration that over-
wardsville would be able to get away
reacted with an incredibly unpopular with a similar suspension, and if an
decision, again, saved its face, while
Edwardsville School Board would be
making its subordinate publicly able to be so friendly to such a
apologize.
School Board. A plausible outcome
The School Board members of this happening in Edwardsville is
were the only decision makers that that the Administration and School
were elected by the public, and even Board would not be able to feign
they acted cowardly in these respects. social justice, after such blatant het-
Perhaps they are so numb to their erosexism.
constituencies that they don‘t care to
Letters to the Editor

Keep up to date on local events
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www.autonomyalliance.org
Autonomy & Solidarity
Quarterly is collectively
and democratically edited
and published by
Autonomy Alliance.
Autonomy Alliance exists
for general educational
purposes, to expose all
oppressive institutions and
propose non-oppressive
solutions, to ally in
solidarity with other
agreed upon events,
struggles, organizations,
or coalitions, and to
network with oppressed
peoples to act and discuss
in an open, safe, and
shared forum, despite
disagreements.
AA Points of Unity
1) Oppose capitalism and
alienating labor.
2) Oppose all forms of
sexism.
3) Oppose all forms of
racism.
4) Oppose all forms of
heterosexism.
5) People should have a
say in decisions insofar
as it affects them.
6) Individuals are entitled
to autonomy to act
separately from the
organization, given
actions do not violate
any other Point of
Unity.
Contact us to get involved, if
you have questions, or if you
would like to voice and opinion
to be published, at:
autonomyalliance@gmail.com
Economic Needs
1. Full Employment: As unemployment increases, people become less secure in their job, realizing
they could be fired. Also, recently fired people have lower expectations for themselves at their next
job. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” and the less unemployed “beggars” we allow, the more security
and higher all of our expectations will be. Of all places to increase employment, too, this must begin
in communities with the highest levels of unemployment.
2. Pass the Employee Free Choice Act!: Workers must be guaranteed their rights to free association,
free assembly, collective bargaining, and other basic civil liberties.
3. 30-for-40: 30 hours work for 40 hours pay. Increasing leisure time historically correlates with in-
creases in innovation, breakthroughs in knowledge, more class consciousness, less stress, better
health, and an all around better life. However, there must be an incentive to take leisure time over
working less and enduring poverty. This incentive can be done by 30-for-40 and redistributing the
enormous amounts of wealth among the ruling class among those working and living in poverty.
Kinship Needs
1. No privileges for or discrimination against individuals for any services on the basis of sexual pref-
erence, gender identity, or other gender related statuses: Gay marriage may be a reform to increase
tolerance of different sexual preferences. But, it does not address the problem of the government
influencing people's love life. The church and state have provided many incentives (discounted in-
surance rates, not being ostracized, condensed legal documentation on nearly anything, money
saved on taxes) for heterosexual couples to marry. Social relationships, especially passionate ones,
should be free from coaxed obligations like these.
2. Completely socialized daycare facilities: Childcare is another expense that causes parents more
insecurity in life, as well as more stressed out parental figures. Children must have someplace to go
that is safe, with food, with space, has social interaction, and full of care, regardless of any parental
economic status.
3. Shelters and widely known processes for abused family members: Women's shelters are the most
common havens for battered women and children. Sadly, not many people know how to get in con-
tact with them or how to properly tap into them. They are also overflowing with sheltered women
and children, but have scarce in resources. They are under funded and lack a voice for people to
access them. Since the Violence Against Women Act was not renewed in 2005, women must report
abuse first-hand. Children must be able to testify to authorities specifically about what happened
and how, before they can be taken from abusive parents. We must renew the VAW Act, increase
funding for shelters, create less bureaucratic and more efficient rescue services for those abused in
homes, and teach children in schools about how to handle such problems. By not teaching them to
properly end domestic violence, we are teaching them to be silent about it.
Cultural Needs
1. Free movement for all and the abolition of national borders: Borders are constructed to confine
people and ultimately serve to dehumanize people outside of one’s own borders. NAFTA , the
Bracero Program, and a whole history of US imperialism and racism have played huge factors in
the road to dehumanizing Mexicans and racism against Latinos. In reality, American workers’ will
only gain more job security and earn higher wages, if the maquiladoras in Mexico are in solidarity
with American workers.
2. The right to speak one’s own language: If someone attends a school in a Puerto Rican community
in New York, their community should have the right to dictate what cultural respects are held at the
community. No outside culture should be allowed to mandate what language children speak in the
classroom.
3. Intercommunal control of media: Media in a community should be controlled by those in the com-
munity, and any media exchange where the cultural community is represented outside should be
proportionally controlled by the community being portrayed. This could eliminate racist caricatures
and cultural misrepresentations of others.