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Fifth Column | |||||||
My Second Marxist Indoctrination (at SFSU). | |||||||
2003-12-15 | |||||||
- By Tatiana Menaker posted on frontpagemagazine.com Comparing the Soviet Union Marxist-Leninist indoctrination with San Francisco State University. After arriving in the United States with a diploma from Leningrad University (a university with such alumni as Vladimir Lenin, Ayn Rand and President Vladimir Putin), I realized that I had the extremely unmarketable skills of a Marxist-Leninist philosophy professor. Moreover, English was not my strong suit. So I became a staff writer for a Russian newspaper in San Francisco and free-lanced for émigré publications in New York and Los Angeles. Eventually, I decided âTo bring my English to the level of my Russian" (as the Russian-born American novelist Vladimir Nabokov quipped) and enrolled at San Francisco State University. I majored in creative writing.
My suprise meter didnât budge. Imagine the astonishment of a person who, after fighting the KGB and being a refusenik, finally comes so close to her dream of receiving a real education instead of indoctrination, only to find herself, once again, in the middle of a socialist brainwashing machine but this time in San Francisco. Unfortunately, at San Francisco State University, meeting with members of the monolithic left-wing faculty, who are still soaked in the delirium of the Marxist-Socialist utopia, is an everyday necessity for the average student. Very few SFSU faculty members separate their political platforms from the professorâs podium. When a professor in the Philosophy department teaches Marxism with the zealotry of a new convert, it is totally understandable; but when a Linguistics professor pushes socialist ideas instead of explaining sentence structure, or a Geography professor slaps slogans of the extreme left-wing organization International ANSWER on her office door (paid for by taxpayers with differing political views), it becomes another matter altogether. Of course if the prof used slogans from the GOP or Rantburg they would be burned at the stake. Obviously, being busy with teaching and promoting world change, these professors have overlooked the well-known fact that Marxist ideology failed the test in every country where it was applied.
Welcome to the Loony Leftâs Amerika! At least this professor can be credited for giving me my well-deserved grade of C. Another professor, who hated President Bush because he, like Bush, also graduated from Yale, gave me an F with a note saying that I would never overcome the language barrier. I couldnât help reflecting that, at the same age as Bush, this professor had achieved little more than a few divorces and five children spread all over the country information that he poured on us before even learning our names, which, by the way, he never managed to do. Considering how irritated he was by my essay, which ridiculed his leftist views, this professor was not conducting himself in a fair and unbiased manner. Obviously, I was not the only student who complained about my grade. As a result, the English department quickly changed my grade of F to "no credit." The following semester, I repeated the same class with a famously tough teacher, receiving a B+ and many compliments on my writing. It seems that I had overcome my allegedly insurmountable âlanguage barrierâ after all. Good Observation: I noticed a recurring pattern in SFSUâs anti-American professors: the degree to which a professor condemned American âimperialismâ was usually in direct proportion to his lack of personal hygiene and steady decline in personal appearance. God what a great quote! I was especially fascinated by one middle-aged guy who had alcoholism written all over his face, in bathhouse flip-flops revealing dirty overgrown toenails, and with his belongings stuffed in a plastic grocery bag. If I hadnât seen him behind the teacherâs desk, I would have mistaken him for one of San Franciscoâs deranged homeless America made money on rebuilding Europe? Is this true?
What? A Russian who does not beleve in Marxism? Impossible! You cannot be a real russian! Immediately before the war in Iraq, I watched two different kinds of professors at SFSU: both of them, naturally, antiwar. The good: Some of them did their work with professional integrity even though their hearts were on the antiwar side, trusting students to make their own political decisions. The bad (and the ugly): Some others not only served as ideologues to the anti-American mob organized under their patronage, but also agitated and incited students to leave classes for antiwar demonstrations. This is good: This pointed out the major difference between my education in the Soviet Union and my education at SFSU. When I wanted to transfer credits from my Leningrad University degree to SFSU, I was told by the International Admissions Office that it couldnât be done, because as a professor of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, I had only gone through "indoctrination." I find this fascinating, because the difference between Leningrad University and SFSU is that my professors in Leningrad were forced to teach socialist propaganda for fear of brutal punishment; here a bunch of aged hippies, who put students through forced indoctrination instead of academic work, were materially rewarded for their radical activism. Not only am I as amazed as Alice in the Socialist Wonderland of San Francisco State University, but I feel as though I need to attend a third university to receive a real education. At SFSU, Iâve merely had my second Marxist indoctrination. | |||||||
Posted by:CrazyFool |
#7 I had the great pleasure of attending SF State during the first Gulf War. For those of you who don't believe it's as bad there as reported. Trust me, it is. |
Posted by: Rex Mundi 2003-12-15 8:08:17 PM |
#6 "the degree to which a professor condemned American âimperialismâ was usually in direct proportion to his lack of personal hygiene and steady decline in personal appearance." An all time classic! You'll make the same observation in Europe. But San Francisco is a beautiful city nonetheless. |
Posted by: True German Ally 2003-12-15 7:57:20 PM |
#5 Can you imagine what it would be like for an exchange student from Iraq coming to an LLL college? |
Posted by: Atrus 2003-12-15 7:41:38 PM |
#4 SH, I think many classes are being taught by deranged homeless people...... |
Posted by: CrazyFool 2003-12-15 7:37:07 PM |
#3 Some random observations by the hose: When I wanted to transfer credits from my Leningrad University degree to SFSU, I was told by the International Admissions Office that it couldnât be done, because as a professor of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, I had only gone through "indoctrination." Tatiana should have tried the Education Department at SFSU - her credits could have resulted in the award of Doctorate degree without the need of further study. If I hadnât seen him behind the teacherâs desk, I would have mistaken him for one of San Franciscoâs deranged homeless ... This idea should be forwarded to the new governor as a way to cut overhead at the state universites. Many classes could be taught by deranged homeless at a savings. The quality of instruction might also improve markedly. |
Posted by: Super Hose 2003-12-15 7:32:30 PM |
#2 In San Francisco, there are a lot of Russians involved with the Republican party. |
Posted by: buwaya 2003-12-15 7:22:58 PM |
#1 In San Francisco, there are a lot of Russians involved with the Republican party. |
Posted by: buwaya 2003-12-15 7:22:06 PM |