THE CADRE, TUES., FEB. 26?'1974'Page~za 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Each and every aspect of 
     
     social existence is determ— 
     
     ined by the dominant mode 
     
     of thought, which mode is, 
     
     of course, that of the dom— 
     
     inant class. In our case the 
     
     leading class is the bour— 
     
     geois —- the political lea- 
     
     ders, economic elite, chur— 
     
     ch elite, professors and te— 
     
     achers -— indedd all who le- 
     
     ad whether they be bureau— 
     
     crats or church leaders. 
     
    

    
     In the economic sphere, fie 
     
     leaders are those who own 
     
     the property and means of 
     
     production. As a result th- 
     
     ey determine the leadership 
     
     of the other elitist groups. 
     
     Most significant is their 
     
     influence on the political 
     
     leaders who weild the admin- 
     
     istrative power, which pow— 
     
     er is used inevitably for 
     
     the interests of the econo— 
     
     mic elite. Through the pol? 
     
     itical sphere, the economic 
     
     elite dominate all other 
     
     spheres of social existence. 
     
     Prince Edward Island is ru— 
     
     led therefore by the bour— 
     
     geois-economic policies of 
     
     this elitist group, the cap— 
     
     italists. . 
     
    

    
     My intent is not however, 
     
     to give a critique of P.E.I. 
     
     eConomy: my purpose ls to 
     
     point out the subtle, but 
     
     certain ways by which this 
     
     dominant mode of thought 18 
     
     propagated by the means of 
     
     foe example, UPEI Senate. 
     
    

    
     Senate is guided by very . 
     
     definite, formal rules. This 
     
     ' ' -lf i_ a means for 
     
    
   
   
    
          
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     “Do you reallze,,vggr;g man, what C-minus can mean in terms of lifetime earnings?” , 
     
    
   
   
    
     ditorial . 
     
    
   
   
    
     t... Subtlety et Deceit 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     perpetuating bourgeois tho- 
     
     ught since it is set up and 
     
     designed by the bourgeOis & 
     
     'for the bourgeois. "One must 
     
     conform to procedure" -— 
     
     their procedure, or risk 
     
     being out of order. This al— 
     
     so facilitates objectivity - 
     
     a necessary condition to en- 
     
     able one man to deny another 
     
     man his humanness or ident— 
     
     ity. It makes it very easy 
     
     to treat men as objects —- 
     
     typical of the bourgeois. 
     
     This is proven by the dismy 
     
     other senators express if 
     
     one speaks as a.man for men. 
     
     To speak of truth, freedom, 
     
     oppression and liberation 
     
     fills them with horror for 
     
     these notions do not fit in- 
     
     to "formal procedure" -- 
     
     they are human—centered and, 
     
     thus, foreign to senate. 
     
     There are twice as many 
     
     faculty (oppressor) as there 
     
    
   
   
    
     are students (oppressed). 
     
     This is an important point 
     
     for two reasons: 
     
    

    
     l)_it ensures that faculty 
     
     will have their own way by 
     
    
   
   
    
     ’numerical superiority, and: 
     
    
   
   
    
     2) it subtly reveals that 
     
     argument will not be persua— 
     
     SlVe by students because 
     
    

    
     of 1 above: students may 
     
     argue stronger than faculty 
     
     and, if reason prevails, the 
     
     student will force faculty 
     
     to adhere to their needs. 
     
     However, faculty are not 
     
     concerned with student needs 
     
     -- they are concerned only 
     
     with their own needs -- th— 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
     I 
     
    
   
   
    
     erefore, it is necessary to 
     
    

    
     resort to vote which will 
     
     permit faculty inclination 
     
     to reign supreme and, thus, 
     
     win their way. 
     
    

    
     This is very frustrating 
     
     for students. No matter how 
     
     right you may be, faculty, 
     
     due to their numerical sup— 
     
     eriority can defeat us by 
     
     vote. Voting procedures 
     
     therefore protect faculty 
     
     and, hence, maintain the ex- 
     
     isting bourgeois state of 
     
     affairs. 
     
    

    
     What-is further revealed 
     
     is the non—respect for hon- 
     
     esty, truth and justice. 
     
    

    
     The very way in which senate 
     
     is structured is proof pos- 
     
     itive that argument and re- 
     
     ason are in the service of 
     
     faculty interests. A student 
     
     may talk for a few minutes 
     
     revealing very penetratingly 
     
     the discrepancies which ex- 
     
     ist, but when he finishes 
     
     there is a momentary lull 
     
     where no—one says anything: 
     
     after the lull, some faculty 
     
     member will begin to dis— 
     
     cuss something not related 
     
     to the student's words at 
     
     all! He gets denied! Stu- 
     
     dents are overlooked. But 
     
     after a faculty member fin- 
     
     ishes talking, there is a 
     
     hum of verbal activity -— 
     
     because he is talking 39 
     
     faculty, £9; them. 
     
    

    
     The conspiracy is subtle & 
     
     manifests itself in the sm- 
     
     allest details. It's work — 
     
     though dishonest —.is ingen- 
     
     ious in perpetrating and 
     
     maintaining the existing. 
     
     bourgeois world. - 
     
    

    
     There are the "nit-pickers." 
     
     Bob Ellison and Harry Love 
     
     are experts at this -— 
     
     they're not the only ones 
     
    

    
     but they are the most effec- 
     
     tive. What most character- 
     
     izes the nit—picker is that 
     
     he is relentless, and conc- 
     
     entrates on the smallest,I 
     
     most insignificant details. 
     
    
   
   
    
     They are effective by "wear- 
     
     ing senate down" until they 
     
     win.their~point. Their poi— 
     
     nt is not honestly won, mind 
     
     you: they get us so tired, 
     
     bored and disgusted that 
     
    
   
   
    
     “we're only too happy to con— 
     
    
   
   
    
     cede! An incompetent mind 
     
     will resort to this practice. 
     
    

    
     (small minds cannot see be- 
     
     yond details) 
     
    

    
     There is also the "author- 
     
     itarian". This fellow uses 
     
     the form of authority —- 
     
     but he has no content. For 
     
     example, he uses a very re— 
     
     strained voice, calculated 
     
     to sound authoritarian. He 
     
     is also very formal and at 
     
     home with "proper procedure". 
     
     He is detached and uncon- 
     
     cerned even when he uses 
     
     such terms as"concern","pro- 
     
    
   
   
    
     per", "desireable", "justice" 
     
    
   
   
    
     etc. However, when you ex- 
     
     amine the content of his re- 
     
    
   
   
    
     Bit. pg. 7