When does academic responsibility become activism? I often wonder. Is it the responsibility of the academician to remain quietly on the sidelines, merely observing, ruminating, pondering? Or is there a time when it is the responsibility of the academic, the intellectual, to take a stand? Otherwise, what is the point of academic pursuit? Is that not like a surgeon opening up a patient in search of the cause of the illness, only to close him up again after diagnosis without affecting any cure? And does this apply in the classroom as well? Said continued
MUSINGS AND MUTTERINGS ON MATTERS
12/02/06
Oaxaca and the rest of Mexico is aflame with resistance to the new government. I have to admit, I was incredulous this morning at the news of 40,000 teachers on a 48 hour strike. I should have been--I was wrong by 30,000! Yes, 70,000 teachers are striking for two days.
In Democracy Now (democracynow.org) was the following reference from U.S. Bureau Chief for the Mexican daily newspaper La Jornada
"There are 70,000 teachers that have called a 48-hour work stoppage in the state of Oaxaca, as we speak. And so, the problem is that often foreigners are accused of being the instigators, and therefore, the reason why repression comes in. And we've seen some of this, an attempt at this, with the Brad Will case, you know, where all of a sudden it's legitimate -- the federal government used -- tried to use the Brad Will case as a way to send in federal troops under pressure by the US embassy."
That's a lot of teachers. Oaxaca has a population of about 3.5 million. You do the math. (Hint: that is a ratio of one teacher for every 51 people of all ages.) I don't pretend to know the actual demographics of the area but that would make for enviable teacher to student ratios.
While I'm on the topic of Democracy Now, I suggest working it in to your daily schedule. I find it three times on cable television and once on KUSP radio. It is possibly the most important English-speaking show on the air and on the Internet. I also suggest NPR (National Public Radio) for news and in-depth reporting and, of course, the BBC on radio, television and the Internet. You don't have to be stuck with CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN. News, after all, isn't just news you know.