In this day's class, we did a discussion about the first chapter of "Lies My Teacher Told Me". How Rab explained the differences between socialism, communism and capitalism at the beginning of the class really helped me out since I didn't really get their differences. His explanation made me get a clearer vision of what the topic was all about. It was surprising to know that all three of them equally had both strong and weak points. Knowing that fact, I assume that Loewen's distorted views on socialism stem from his American identity. Although he picks too much on Helen Keller's later life as a radical socialist, he does make a point in that this truth was hidden from us, from the textbooks. The problem with textbooks is the selection of information. They designate and leave out certain information based on the criteria to make students feel proud of their own country, which generates the heroification of historical figures. However, the exposure of the history's truth is essential because truth makes students critical thinkers of their country. Moreover, it will give them an incentive to do more examination on their motherland.
Margaret Thatcher was shown as an example to show the influence of censorship of information on that figure's image in this modern world. Probably this doesn't really has anything to do with this whole topic but I personally related this story to Michael Jackson. Despite all the bizarre and disturbing stories about his personal life and constant criticism about him, he was praised as the "King of Pop" after his death. Well, I guess the example of Michael Jackson is kind of different compared to Thatcher because Michael actually had the exceptional musical talents, when I hardly hear any good stories about her.
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