Michael Gove and World War One

[Jubal]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2532923/Michael-Gove-blasts-Blackadder-myths-First-World-War-spread-television-sit-coms-left-wing-academics.html

See this armadillo? This armadillo is unacceptable.

You do not have to be left wing to realise that ordering men to walk in order across open country with machine guns on the other side is a horrific waste of human life. Nor do you have to be left wing to appreciate the catastrophic scale of losses on both sides and the deep wounds it left on many ordinary communities up and down Russia, Germany, Austria, France, Britain, the USA, and beyond. The exceptional bungles in leadership; the total failure to adapt rapidly to trench warfare and ensure that effective medical provisions were available and that men weren't living in wet mud. This is not an issue it's even remotely okay to place on the political spectrum.

And that is what the British education secretary just did. The man who writes our goddamn school curriculum.

*rage*

[comrade_general]

I'm not sure I follow what's happening here.

[Jubal]

Okay, so Michael Gove is the education secretary. And, in order to try and mark himself out as the next potential Conservative party leader, he's going out and trying to claim that what we should be thinking about on the anniversary of World War One is not how awful it was, or how many people's lives were totally wasted, but what a good thing it was they fought those nasty Germans and were brilliant brave patriots. Plus he's trying to say the Somme was actually fought pretty well and that Haig was actualy a fairly good general.

[Othko97]

Gove is a moron. He said that he wanted every school to be above average. EVERY school. ABOVE average. We have an education secretary who doesn't understand basic mathematics everyone. When someone highlighted that this is impossible, he simply said "It isn't impossible if they all work hard", or words to that effect. His plans for academisation are plain stupid and go against the evidence of them being bad for education in the long run. The man shouldn't be in politics, let alone in charge of the entire nation's education! His own friend, who wouldn't have been employed by the government if not for Gove, actually wrote a 250 page report on how Gove's education changes were portugaling up the country. He is a grade A alpaca.

[comrade_general]

Okay, so Michael Gove is the education secretary. And, in order to try and mark himself out as the next potential Conservative party leader, he's going out and trying to claim that what we should be thinking about on the anniversary of World War One is not how awful it was, or how many people's lives were totally wasted, but what a good thing it was they fought those nasty Germans and were brilliant brave patriots. Plus he's trying to say the Somme was actually fought pretty well and that Haig was actualy a fairly good general.

I don't know much about specific generals or anything, and I'm not joining up with this guy when I say this, but shouldn't it be looked at both ways? Yes it was awful but also yes the soldiers who fought were heroes?

[Jubal]

Yes, nobody's disputing the immense bravery of the original soldiers; the fact is that a lot of them died for no purpose because the government of the time didn't know how to run a war. The quote that is often used for the main view is "lions led by donkeys" - both sides accept that the soldiers were immensely courageous, the question is whether how we should view the leadership and whether we should be celebrating a great patriotic victory or not. I think given WWI involved wasting so many lives in the name of patriotism for really no gain at all it would be wrong to consider it as a point of patriotic celebration; our pride should be for the individuals, not the campaigns they died in.

[comrade_general]

Trudat.

[Will]

The irony is not only is he the education secretary he is the one who, with effectively no support from teachers, has ordered the ''learn the whole of history in order'' bullarmadillo. Which makes no sense since children who are 4/5 can't learn about something in the same depth as someone who is 10 and so the whole system is flawed, not mentioning some bits of history are probably more important etc. Not only does he not understand education, but he apparently has no grasp on history.

Also just read the post saying he thought every school should be above average. Made me smile. Maybe he has use as a clown, but not in charge of our childrens' education.