News regarding the purchase of Tik-Tok, a Chinese-based social media app, continues to intrigue. Recently, Trump announced that he approved the purchase of this app — from ByteDance Ltd. — by American corporations Oracle and Walmart. According to Trump, part of this agreement entails a contribution of $5 billion by these companies to an education fund aimed at educating American children on “the real history of our country” (Jacobs et al., 2020, para. 1). At a recent speech, Trump expressed disdain about an education platform called the 1619 Project, aimed at beginning the teaching of American history from when the first slaves were brought to America. Trump disavowed the 1619 Project, stating that an ideal education platform would teach children to love our country, history, and flag.
Trump’s desire to restructure the nature of American education calls into question values regarding the government’s role in public education. Ironically, as a Republican running on a laissez-faire platform (of limited government involvement) Trump's desired changes seem to evoke a controlling government, not characteristic of a market economy. As a politician who has vehemently opposed socialism, legislation enforcing a more ‘American’ form of education seems to impede on the public student’s right to, what many would believe is, a more objectively factual portrayal of American history — one that begins with the emergence of American slavery.
5 comments:
Very interesting to see the contradicting opinions of the president. The government should not be able to control the curriculum of what is being taught in the public school classrooms. It is surprising to see that Trump is requiring a donation to this foundation in order for tik tok to remain in existence.
I think that it is interesting how Trump's time in office has changed his opinion on the idea of government intervention. I'm sure as a business owner, he did not like the idea of government intervention because it meant higher taxes and reduced profits from regulation. I think since he has taken office, he has taken a much less libertarian approach. In some ways he has made it more of a free market by getting rid of environmental protection acts, but he also has had plenty of intervention with the economy. His intervention has been massive recently with the bailouts of large corporations. It will be interesting how he treating the next couple months as he tries to earn votes to get reelected.
Great post Max. It is in fact interesting to see how contradictory Trump's decisions are to the stances he claims to take. I am also wondering whether it is ethical for him not only to demand a donation but also to refuse public education to offer a more objective account of U.S. history to its students? I think that the implications of a Tik-Tok Purchase and an Education Reform by Trump are beyond economic. In particular, I believe that they really speak to the hyper-nationalist views that Donald Trump and many Republicans and/or conservatives tend to hold.
I agree with all of these comments and I think it is particularly interesting to watch Trump handle issues that involve government intervention. As someone who ran on a platform of limited government involvement, he often counteracts this stance when it benefits him. In some situations I agree with his desire to increase government involvement, such as through increased government spending and fiscal policy to combat Covid's economic strains. However, he should recognize his decisions to lean on a more liberal policy and look to work through bipartisan measures whenever possible.
i agree with you max it is very funny and ironic to watch a president who said and showed during his running that he is heavily against government involvement but now you see him having the government get involved because it benefits him
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