The Anti University
Think Like Us or Get Sent To Live With the Peasants!
This is in response to the following comment by Morquendi. It is in response to a post where I said I value research and data because I don’t consider my personal opinion sacrosanct. He has issues not with the issues I bring up but with me, personally.
there’s one thing on which I agree with you 100%
“formulating national educational policy won’t really benefit from my ‘original’ opinion”
It won’t. Because you have no clue about the education system in Sri Lanka. If you didn’t have those WB books lying around the house this argument would most certainly not have gone on for this long. And do you want to know who else, for the same reason as you, has no clue about the education system in Sri Lanka? The World Bank.
I think I’ll go ahead and bear the wrath of Morq’s evil eye as it leaves his navel. He can’t seem to engage in the debate beyond a personal level – be it anecdotes of people he knows or calling Chanuka an asshole. So, I’ll take it on that level. For a debate on higher education, Morquendi a surprising disdain for facts, stats and research. It’s unclear that he values higher education at all. Specifically, its injunction to look beyond ones own immediate perceptions in trying to make sense of the world. In the spirit of fun, let’s see what kind of University it would take to form an argument up to Morquendi’s standards.
*The Anti University*
Motto: I Went to School With Poor People!
The Anti University is devoted to preserving ancient Communist Idealogy and the destruction of reactionary elements. It is innovative in that it educates students without books, research, math or even critical thinking. The Anti University is devoted to pure ideology and attacking anyone and anything that questions the ideology. Its founder is a people’s champion, who sacrificed his packed lunch to fit in with poor people. Here are some of the courses offered at Morquendi U:
Communist Propaganda 101
There are a few things that I like about the way Sri Lanka is run. Among them two of the most important would be the Free Education system and the Free Healthcare system, and *an inherent understanding* among many politicians and people that somehow, for some reason, privatizing essential public services is a bad thing. I’m not a real commie but I like it that we’re still called the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. (Universities Debate)
Anything that is market driven will cater to those who can pay and will neglect and marginalize those who cannot. Indi believes in that and I think his blind faith in how money and the market system will save the world is beyond debating.
The goal of the course is to enculcate an idealogy in the student. The focus is on emotion and the destruction of critical thinking. The ideal graduate will reject all opposing opinions, research, and facts and refer always to the idealogy. The ideology is, specifically, a drama of poor vs. rich, oppressed vs. imperialist. The good side is a totalitarian and all knowing state, and free markets are the enemy. The exact workings of the state are not to be discussed. The first semester involves energetically ignoring the rampant poverty and starvation in the former USSR, North Korea, Khmer Rouge Cambodia, Burma, and the economic gains of India and China upon embracing capitalism. Also ignoring the higher standards of living in capitalist countries. Once the student is sufficiently supple, insert the same old Communist Dogma, making sure to avoid its miserable failures over the last 50 years. Use basic conditioning so that market=bad, capitalism=bad, capitalism=oppression. Also teach students to always refer to ideological opponents as ‘elitist’ or ‘brainwashed’. If the student begins to think critically or ask for empirical support of anti-market arguments, please refer them to Book Burning 104 or the Blog of Morquendi.
Book Burning 104
I don’t have slanted facts and stats… If I paid them enough and told them to give me a study that says children prefer to learn in classrooms without roofs then they would. It’s market driven, like everything. The client pays, and the client gets.
*Prerequisite:* Communist Propaganda 101
This course consists on taking the books out of the library and burning them. A common Corequisite is Nationalism 214. Remind the students that all knowledge and research is part of the market system and thus corrupted. Special emphasis on the burning of statistics, surveys, polls, and ballots. Any students attempting to support their arguments should be failed and told to retake Communist Propaganda 101. Extra credit for punching kids with glasses.
Nationalism 214
I will not refer to foreign systems where certain things have worked. This is a Sri Lankan problem… However much you have read about a country, however much you have studied it, as long as it’s systems are not a lived experience for you, you will not be able to comment on their workings as anything but an outsider. A word from an outsider is good. But one word from someone for whom the system is a lived experince is better than the 10,000 word thesis of an observer.
You can talk about models and statistics and Marxism and Capitalism and lots of other things but you really have no clue about Sri Lanka or Sri Lankans or how things work here. I forgive you because you’ve never had the opportunity to get to know the ‘system’ here. For all of us here it’s a lived experience. We have grown up with the system and have a instinctive understanding of what means what. Not an academic interest like yours. (Comment)
This course is a detailed study of ignorance. It starts from the assumption that Sri Lanka has nothing to learn from the rest of the world. Sri Lanka is an island in every sense of the world, comprised of superior and entirely incomparable people. The first semester consists of burning books on Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. The last semester is devoted to urinating on then burning books on America. Optional readings indoctrinations include babble on racial superiority and glorification of ancient achievements.
*Final Thesis*: live in Sri Lanka for a day and then take a dump.
Protesting 414
This is something that we can’t just talk about. Those who want a complete privatization of the education system can sit on their asses and wait for the WB and the Government of Sri Lanka to do it. But people who believe that free education needs to be protected and strengthened before we turn education into a commodity (which sadly is an eventuality for which we can only prepare) have their work cut out for them. Sometimes on the streets.
This is an advanced internship. Whenever the herd leaves the University follow them. Chant whatever slogans you are given, bearing in mind the lessons of Communist Propaganda. Any student attempting to research and understand the issue they are protesting will be failed. Please encourage them to focus on the ideology. Any student attempting to engage in debate with the other side will be failed and possible expelled.
Character Assassination 202
I would like to remind this scum that there are some people who enjoy a free lunch. People like him. Who do nothing for our economy and still reap the benefits. While the poor people of this country slave away in foreign households, work day and night in garment factories and work day in and day out for a mere pittance in the estate sector so that they can bring in the foreign currency that keeps assholes like Chanuka fed. Listen Mo*Fo*. You are able to say the shit you do because of the work these people do. Yet you do not lift a finger to help them. And you would even deny their children an opportunity to go to school. If they stopped working your fatcat life would be over. No more X-Box!!!! I’m not going to listen to unfounded uneducated uninformed neo-feudal-bourgeoise comments like the one this scum Chanuka made… (Asshole Warning II)
You on the other hand had your petty bourgeoise buddies at Ananda College. Perhaps they were also rabid Sinhal Buddhist Nationalists. Ananda does produce a steady stream of hatemongers. But I’m not going to hold that against you. You are a true product of the Colombo elite. You go to school with your rich kid buddies.
If the ideology is ever threatened the student must learn to attack the person, not their arguments. The ideology is infallible and not open to argument. Any opponents must be crushed personally as they are reactionary elements. Basic skills learned in the first semester include Googling for dirt, and use of the words ‘asshole’, ‘elitist’, and ‘scum’. Also the word bourgeoise, which may have to be written down on a charred bit of paper, if you can find one. Advanced skills in the second semester involve researching peoples families, for example:
[Indi has] a parent who was an integral part of the push for WB-proposed reforms in the education system a few years ago… You could learn a lot about Marxism as a lived experience and Sri Lankan politics from your grandfather (who I think is a really cool guy)
If you cannot find dirt make sure your opponent is aware that you know who they are. Possible internships in North Korea, Zimbabwe, China, and the Republican Party.
So, that’s The Anti University. No books, stats, or research. Also, no study of anything beyond Sri Lanka since foreign countries are irrelevant. Actually, no study at all since the only relevant knowledge is in front of your nose. Really, no need to leave the village at all. If you’re Sri Lankan and you agree with the idealogy, no need for higher education. Just protest when everyone else does and consult your little black blog when in doubt.
*PS*. Undoubtably Morq (who is, incidentally, an intelligent person) would like to respond, so the best dirt I can think of on myself is that my Sinhala is beyond terrible, and that I spent the vast majority of my life abroad. If Morq has an alternate plan as to how Sri Lanka can provide better education that would be better, but without ‘slanted facts and figures’ we’re left with this.
The Mahavamsa (a history of Sri Lanka) is full of conflicts between generals and kings. Usually, the more bloodthirsty and unscrupulous would win. Our current (elected) ruler Mahinda Rajapaksa has had his own general conflicts, namely with one Sarath Fonseka. In the old days Fonseka would have staged a coup, as in literally try to cut of Mahinda’s head, and Mahinda would – if that failed – tie him to four elephants and split his parts asunder. Can’t do that shit anymore. Instead Fonseka ran for office and lost and Mahinda tossed him in jail.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Agreed. The only thing worse than ignorance is myopia, and parts of the Privatisation debate had me dry-heaving at phrases like “slanted facts and stats”, “bourgeoise intellectual” , and what’s with the word ” elitist” being thrown around like dog manure?
What most of the participants seem to have forgotten is that Further Education is a MERIT good and not a public one. It is a commodity that is seen as socially and economically desirable, but under-supplied by the market; thus the government intevenes where it can to produce optimal supply. But Further education SHOULD be difficult to gain entry into, it should be difficult for a variety of reasons not the least being that it is based on potential performance and not just past results. Something someone said about affirmative action just occurred : “…(entry into further education) should be based on the potential a candidate has to exploit an opportunity that they may not have otherwise received and it should focus less on past performance”.
Old Boys’ clubs, corruption at entry-level and all the other hoo-ha may be a failure in the market mechanism to some, but I say, that’s just how it is in the Big League. No, corruption is evil and smelly (and exploitative) but the bottom half of income earners are the most likely to propogate corruption by bribery according to most development economists, and Transparency International (dare I use surveys and statistics to prove a point?). And Chinese communist ideology had “black” capitalist-roaders and “intellectuals” pulling up grass during the Cultural Revolution, methinks free(ish) markets are forward momentum.
And on the other side we have …
Chanuka says >>
That’s insightful commentary and ontopic debate right there. Stop the presses. We have a match made in heaven.
this comment is certified 100% irony free.
btw, Ru, either I know you in real life or there are a stunning set of coincidences…
does anyone see NO POINT in this debate, or is just me? for those of you who have been following this debate from its initial stages, you can observe that it has gotten really sidetracked, and has ceased to be a professional informative debate. it has instead turned into one big dirty mud slinging match. really immature, and quite quite POINTLESS.
indi and morq aren’t taking their views anywhere important. whether or not the privatization takes place, still, at the end of the day, will NOT be affected by their bickering. i understand their concern for the countrie’s local ed system (i DO?!) but i simply cannot for the life of me comprehend this incessent arguing.
indi, morq, its not like either of you are going to back down. EVER. you’re not going to admit that one of you might be right, and the other wrong. indi keeps bringing up statistics from the WB, and morq keeps digging up dirt on indi’s family. whats the POINT? boys, its not going to change anything. i’m sorry. the truth is harsh, but it doesnt make it any less the truth! none of you are going to admit defeat. you are entitled to your opinions, and you both believe yourself to be the sole source of truth on this planet. how, and good god WHEN is this going to end?
you’re just going to end up hating each other, and the entire local blogosphere is going to end up sick and tired of this age old argument. and what for? you’re both perfectly capable, and intelligent and obviously very concerned for a national cause of distress. so take the concern elsewhere and do something productive with it! dont just sit on your asses and get online every night to bash each other up.
are you both seriously immature enough to think that you alone know the universal truth? haven’t you heard of something called an opinion? well people are allowed to have them, however different from your’s they may be! nothing is black and white. or right and wrong. or ‘indi’ and ‘morq’. you both obviously with powerful conviction have strong morals and principles that you intend to live by, no matter what. while i admire you for sticking your ground through this, maybe its time to broaden those narrow little things you call your minds to the fact that their might be more to life than YOUR debate, and YOUR perspective, and YOUR version of the truth. give me a break.
So Indi, I finally offer you a suggestion to overhaul a small part of the education system that is an alternative to the WB’s model and this is how you respond?
After months of just playing around, I finally bring up an alternative and you freak out and launch a personal attack?
The WB’s instruction booklet didn’t have a chapter on how to deal with alternatives? No they didn’t did they? All they want to do is push their agenda, just like all you want to do is push your agenda.
You think you’re right (and in this case you don’t even have an idea that’s yours. You’re just stealing ideas from the WB), and when I offer you an alternative that we could talk about you dig through months of blog material and spend an insane amount of time writing a scathing personal attack.
You have clearly demonstrated your inability to continue an argument when your opponent finally says something intelligent. Oh I should’ve stopped playing with you long ago.
Sadly, you are also guilty of all that you accuse me of.
And Indi, why I asked you not to get personal is because you have a lot of skeletons in your closet that you might not even know about. I feel very very tempted this time, but because I have refused to make this debate personal I won’t.
And your assumptions are hilarious. You call me a commie, I’m honored. But sorry, I hate commies. If you spent some more time going through my blog you might have noticed that. You also call me a nationalist. First time I’ve been called that.
And I’m sorry to notice you have directly misquoted me. I ask you to correct that. Trashing me is one thing, telling the world that I said things I didn’t is not acceptable. I have never misquoted you, or misinterpreted anything you said for the sake of bolstering my argument. I am all for the you having the freedom to say what you want, but you cannot misquote people.
You claim I said
[Indi has] a parent who was an integral part of the push for WB-proposed reforms in the education system a few years ago…
When what I actually said was
Sorry. I don’t have slanted facts and stats. I don’t have a parent who was an integral part of the push for WB-proposed reforms in the education system a few years ago, and as a result of that has a very academic understanding of the issue and all the data and stats needed to counter people like me.
Trash me for what I’ve said, don’t make up quotes and trash me.
What do the skeletons in my closet have to do with a debate on education? Character Asssasination 202?
[stuff within brackets] is generally taken as a paraphrase. In that case were you refering to another parent who was part of the push for reforms, besides my mom?
As to your alternative, it has nothing to do with Universities. You advocate closing urban primary schools and sending kids to rural primary schools. I fail to see how this creates any more space in the Universities. I asked you at least one specific question, how do you finance adequate universities at 270$ million dollars a year. One piece of reform in primary schools isn’t going to produce that windfall or reform the Universities. Or, to use a metaphor, the car has a flat tire and you adjusted the front seat.
Indi you know the skeletons in your closet are not about character assassination but about World Bank money, which in this instance has a direct connection to the debate. I mean, if I had a pile of World Bank cash stashed somewhere I might be saying the same things you do. I guess I’m as human as you are, and as prone to temptation too. I just think that some people who read this might find some of that stuff interesting, in terms of understanding why you blindly worship the World Bank.
Moving on, again, you fail to understand the system in Sri Lanka. While this debate was originally about the issue of private universities you need to understand that opening a zillion private universities and pumping in more money to state universities (which is what you and I have been saying) is not going to change anything if we don’t reform the entire education system in Sri Lanka. The issue of private universities is only a small part of bigger picture that you refuse to see.
I am not saying we don’t need reform. We do. I have said that in public fora long before you came to Sri Lanka.
And I did not say that my little suggestion was going to be the complete solution. You just assumed that, like you generally do. Did you even read that comment properly and understand what was suggested? I was just offering an alternative to closing down non-urban schools. I most certainly believe that is not going to solve the bigger problem, and your assumption that I meant that is silly. Also your lack of tolerance is shocking. Your clear disregard for the opinions of others reeks of the World Bank’s agenda.
Again, I am horrified by your scathing personal attack on me. It was completely unprovoked and can only prove to the world how you chose to end a debate. I only took part in this online debate because I thought you had the capacity to carry out an intelligent argument. But you have proven otherwise. Your style is closer to the pseudo-left-wing JVP than to anything else.
Your inability to even consider the alternative is a very clear indication of your blind faith in what the World Bank says. I have read almost all the documents that the World Bank has put out in Sri Lanka with regard to this and strangely I agree with many of the things they say about the need for reform. I even agree with them on many of the suggested reforms, especially in the sections with regard to vocational training and job-oriented higher studies. I think in these areas they have a lot of things to contribute. But their proposals for primary and secondary school reforms are not acceptale because they do not take into account the system existing in Sri Lanka and the needs of the rural communities and the minority communities.
Because you do not understand Sri Lanka and her people you do not understand the divisions that the World Bank’s reforms will create. In an ideal Sri Lanka many of those suggestions would work. But there are complex socio-economic systems and conflicts that the World Bank just fails to see in their statistics. When you repeat the World Bank’s agenda you fail to see those dynamics too.
We have enough divisions in this country as it is. We have suffered for the past 50 years because of the shortsighted policies of people like you who do not understand that deprivation and alienation can only lead to conflict. We don’t need more. And we don’t need the World Bank and people like you creating them.
Morq, I doubt you have read any substantial printed matter (i.e., books) leave alone “ALL” World Bank reports on education and for that matter anything written by Marx either (any time you feel like discussing Marx, Engels , Gramsci, Lukacs, Althusser, Fromm and etc. feel free to drop a line-ask Indi for email ID). Problem with so-called “commies” like Morq is that you are so busy putting up posters of sickle & hammer, and attending rallies that you just can’t find the time to read and understand what you are protesting against and what you stand for. So far in this debate you’ve indulged in plenty of “hand-waving” with very little empirical evidence to back your gassy opinions. Marx would probably throw you on his knees and whack you with a paddle for calling yourself a “commie” !
For starters, just re-read what you posted above–it is so replete with contradictions that if it werent sad it would be funny. Someone who can’t figure out the function of [ ] is a poor advertisement for Sri Lanka’s public education system.
And Electra, it is a farce to equate Morq and Indi by saying they are just two opinions. There is a HUGE qualitative difference between the two–one whose opinion is backed with empirical evidence and the other who has basically been burping and threatening to fart out WB secrets from Indi’s cupboard. C’mmon give me a break.
Oh yes, let me express my gratitude to Morq–if it weren’t for him, Indi wouldn’t have done the legwork he did to mobilize his intellectual resources to put together a series of excellent write-ups on the state of higher ed in SL and the need for reform. I have learnt a lot. Thanks!
dude, if I had a pile of World Bank cash stashed somewhere I wouldn’t be taking the bus. Unfortunately, I just graduated last year and haven’t had time to sell out yet – though I am working on it. I’m hoping to work my way up through the World Bank to the Elders of Zion someday.
It seems that Morq has taken Character Assasination 202. Rather than looking for structural problems in my argument he’s gone right for the jugular. Yes, I am corrupt, and maybe there’s even a blowjob scandal in there. If he’s an A student, he’ll start attacking my family next.
Remember kids, if thinking gets too hard remember Propaganda 101. World Bank bad! Capitalism bad! If anybody questions the ideology they are reactionary and corrupt!
I see another Buruwansa in the making!
Guys, let us not insult Marx, Lenin and Stalin by calling these idiots ‘communists’. They do not even know the basics of communism. They assume, the welfare system we practice today is something we’ve got from Stalin’s Soviet Union! Ha! Ha!! Shows clearly how much they know. Sometimes Morquendi might be surprised to learn that no communist country ever followed the same stupid model we follow here, and if at all there were a ‘father’ to the model we have here it was not Vladimir Ilyich Lenin – or even Lunacharsky, Lenin’s Minister of Education if I remember correctly – but a post WW II British Prime Minister called Clement Atlee! (Fortunately for the British, Thatcher undid most of that in late 1980s)
And also for your information Morquendi, (You badly need some education man!) the free market concept is NOT an invention of World Bank. Free markets existed ever since the beginning of the humankind and free trade at international was there not centuries, but millennia before the WB! So called Private Universities (ie. Non-state owned universities) too are nothing new. Some of them were more than 2,500 years old. Thakshila in India was one of the best examples. Shanthi Nikethan and Banaras Hindu University are two more famous non-state owned universities. So please don’t give credit to WB for something they never did man!
Indi did legwork to write those? What a joke. Those writeups didn’t have a single original word in them. All he did was take some of the World Bank brochures and re-write what they had writeen. Legwork my ass! And he admits it too, so there’s hardly anything to debate about it.
And if this is not World Bank poropaganda I don’t know what is. Propaganda 101 in Indi’s university says (taught by followers of the McCarthy method of dealing with dissent) ‘If anyone questions the market system, yell ‘COMMIE!’ If anyone questions the World Bank, yell ‘COMMIE!’. My classes in this subject haven’t been as comprehensive. I didn’t get my money’s worth. Bastard commies and their indoctrination schools! Next time I’m going to Capitalist U. Maybe that’ll bring me upto speed with Indi.
Dammit! Capitalism U also taught him Character Assassination better than Commie U where I went. Want to do a few classes for me? Clearly my character assassination skills are nothing when compared to what Indi had displayed in this post. Simply masterful. Want to be my guru?
thank you. I can give you World Bank rates.
OK, now that this has become fun again, can we go out for a drink like was originally planned? Not kidding. Really. This fucking job eats up my weekdays. How about the weekend? And I’ll ask Mahangu too, if that’s OK with you.
Wow! Morq, I am sure you will be inviting those oppressed poor guys also to join the drink. (those poor guys with whom you have shared the stuff you stole from canteen) So Indi, Bad News. You will not be getting any Scotch Whiskey or anything the filthy rich consume. Only ‘katukambi’ from Morquendi. That is the only drink the oppressed poor can afford. I am sure Morquendi will be wholeheartedly promoting the ‘Katukambi’ business in Sri Lanka, as otherwise how the hell the oppressed poor of this country can have a kick?
aaah, chill. You guys are crazy. I’ll definitely have a drink. Email and we’ll set it up with Mahangu. Someplace with a metal detector.
Oh fuck that…let’s just have a bloggers meet? How about that? Or is it too soon? I was planning on proposing this to Mahangu sometime. But I assume some of the people are kids and might not want to get drunk.
And Chanuka’s right…I HATE WHISKEY!!!!!!!!! I’m more an Arrack person. It’s cheaper. And more easily available.
It’s been a long time since the Katukambi though. Wouldn’t mind trying some out again.
Hey Chanuka, just a by the way. Are you one of those guys protesting outside Ananda College? They really fucked the OBA over didn’t they?
See what I mean about the JVP. Evil. Unequivocal devil spawn.
Indi and Morq are intellectually as stubborn as the proverbial mule. How is anything of consequence going to come out of this thesis and antithesis if this (perceived) intellectual arrogance is going to continue.
Both you buggers have your heads so far up your arses you can’t see for shit.
Electra you are perceptive and honest to the point of being attractive – are you fit??
I was waiting for the caustic Shanaka I’d heard about. There’s a picture if you’d care to visit her site. I would say so.
Shanaka, you’re full of crap (sorry indi). And yes I have met you.
Why sorry? He is full of crap. Not that it’s a disability or anything.
You people talk like being full of crap is a bad thing. It’s hilarious to wind people up. I should write a book. Can one of you buggers do the foreword.
Ru – who are you??
Ja..nothing wrong with crap Shanaka-poo, though you aim for acerbic and end up being sopoforic, aim for droll and end up being a smelly-poo! Last time I saw you, you called me a cow outside clancy’s ( you’re forgiven love, it may have been the shock of meeting a girl who was all eyes and legs, and a little tequila…tooting the horn now). I replied suitably and last thing i remember was you backing away cautiously into a bar-fight. I learned since then that you always queried another ex law-student Cooray by the same name whether I’d be at parties you’d intend to go to! Teeheee! Love to see you again though. Honest.
Omigod!! It’s you.
Soporific? That’s a bit low isn’t it? Especially since you are judging me on one albeit ill fated encounter. Your post is almost Morq – endian. Yes we must clear up our differences. When you coming to London?
Now Morq-endian is a bit low, but i’ll let it go. Not coming down to London unless I have a very good reason . The Highlands are quite pleasant thank you. Not judging you dude, and what differences? Amused at your internet antics, too many egos here(mine being one of them) thought you might have been jettisoned off by now for lack of space…
[...] to enable him to take that which he dishes out with such disdain, in good spirits. (14) Anti-UniversityIt’s hilarious to wind people up. I should write a book. (36, 27) How To ArgueI ha [...]