Henry Giroux and Paul Jay discuss the events of Jan 6th, the destruction of public education and degeneration of mass culture, on theAnalysis.news

Transcript

Paul Jay

Hi, I'm Paul Jay. Welcome to the theAnalysis.news, and please don't forget there's a donate button at the top of the webpage.

In a recent post on Twitter, Henry Giroux wrote, "The mainstream press appears obsessed with QAnon or should I say, the spectacle of its most ludicrous followers, such as Marjorie Taylor Green. Little, if nothing, is said about this movement being historically contextualized as part of a larger drift towards white supremacy, state violence, and fascist politics, all of which is supported by the Republican Party and its large social base. Nothing is said about the rise of extremism in the U.S. as part of the full-fledged assault against democracy.  Nothing is said about the failure of capitalism to deliver on its promises and how that failure opened the door for tyrants like Trump to appear on the scene, promising to resolve the problems of groups marginalized and the age of precarity while making their conditions worse. Nobody talks about QAnon as part of the crisis of education and democratic culture, not to mention the hollowing out of civil society."

That was Henry Giroux. I think the question of the formation of the identity of millions of Americans who can believe climate science is fake, a mask mandate during covid is a sinister plot, and so on, is a reflection of the massive failure of the public education system, especially in rural America.  My seven-year old kids went to schools in Brooklyn where they were taught a history that included an understanding of racial and economic inequality.  Half their class were black or Latino, and while there was still a big dose of Americanism, I doubt their education resembles in many ways what kids are learning in schools in much of rural America.  Kids in much of the U.S. are born into a culture of white supremacy, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, a poisonous brew that fills the void of alienation and despair that millions of Americans feel. It's a breeding ground for fascistization and political support for people like Trump.

Of course, the pro-Wall Street and big business economics of Obama, Clinton, and Democrats at state and local levels help reinforce the world view that the elites in the cities are out to screw workers in the countryside. The writing off of large sections of the population as deplorables or as just backward by liberal elites will continue to till the soil for the Trumps of this country.  What should progressives demand from the Biden administration to address the cultural divide in America? Now joining us to discuss this is Henry Giroux, who holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the public interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and the Paulo Freire distinguished scholar in critical pedagogy. His most recent books include American Nightmare Facing the Challenge of Fascism.  Thanks very much for joining us, Henry.

Henry Giroux

Thanks for having me, Paul.

Paul Jay

So, Henry, you've written a lot about this process of fascistization, but you've also written a lot and studied the educational system both in the U.S. and Canada. So how do you tie these two issues together?

Henry Giroux

Well, I think that when you talk about fascism, you have to talk about education, because it seems to me that fascism is an ideology, is a set of social relations, is a set of values as a vision of the future is learned. It's a learned phenomenon.